





COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




























SIDELIGHTS ON MY 
EUROPEAN TOUR 


BY 

Bishop Robert Turner Brown, D.D., M.D., 

* * 

The Sixth Episcopal District 
C. M. E. Church 


AUTHOR OF 

“The Doctrines of Christ and the Church” 

and 

“Pastors’ Annual and Financial Report” 



> 

> ft 


Birmingham, Alabama 



Copyrighted 1923 
Robert Turner Brown 
Birmingham, Ala. 


• • 


©C1A760857 

NOV 13 *23 


I 



BISHOP ROBERT TURNER BROWN, D.D., M.D. 
The Sixth Episcopal District C. M. E. Church 








To My Loving Wife 

Mrs. Effie Elizabeth Brown, who was then living, and was 
at home praying for safe arrival, and who had the care of my 
two children all these years; and whose life and companion¬ 
ship have been an inspiration to me for thirty-three years, 
and my success in life has largely depended upon her. I have 
dedicated this book to her memory. 

Bishop Robert Turner Brown, 
Birmingham, Ala. 



THE LATE MRS. ROBERT TURNER BROWN 









SIDELIGHTS ON MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


In writing this book I have not attempted to mention 

everything I saw the two months I was in Europe, but 
merely to describe a few things. It would be too voluminous 

and too expensive. But to those who love the study of history 
they will find it very interesting and instructive, and should 
they ever visit Europe, the information gained by reading it 
will be of inestimable value. 

The writer intended to visit Africa on the trip, but did not, 
on account that it was reported that the African fever was 
raging in August when he visited Rome. However, in the 
near future I hope to visit the mother country. 


































% 




























EUROPEAN TRIP 


O n Sunday at 12 p. m., July 21, 1921, I left Bir¬ 
mingham, Ala., for New York after services at 
Phillips Temple. When the train had reached Louis¬ 
ville, Ky., Rev. C. L. Howard, presiding elder of the 
Louisville district, boarded the train en route for Cov¬ 
ington, Ky., to attend an annual meeting of his lodge. 
I had a delightful chat with him. He was in Lane 
College, Jackson, Tenn., when this scribe was a pro¬ 
fessor in that famous institution. He is one of the 
leaders in his conference and has been elected a del¬ 
egate to the General Conference several times. On 
arriving at Cincinnati, Ohio, Dr. S. J. Watkins, M.D., 
D.D.S., a cousin of mine, and his daughter, Mrs. Annie 
Mae Snowden, of Covington, Ky., met me with his 
car and carried me to his home. My old friend, Rev. 
Wm. McGhee, also met me; he was looking for Bishop 
C. H. Phillips and his wife from Middletown, Ohio. 
I was royally entertained at the palatial home of my 
cousin. His queenly wife and daughter made my 
stay exceedingly pleasant. Dr. Watkins is the sani¬ 
tary police of the city, a very responsible position. 

It had been more than ten years since I visited him. 
For twenty-nine years he has practiced medicine in 
Covington, Ky., and he owns much valuable property. 
When this scribe was practicing medicine at Clarks¬ 
ville, Tenn., in 1889, the doctor was teaching a country 
school at Cumberland City, Tenn. He has a lucrative 
practice of medicine. 



10 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


My old friend, Rev. McGhee, carried me to see his 
church and parsonage and to meet his family. He 
bought a two-story brick parsonage and remodeled his 
church. He certainly had done well during the years 
he served there. Mrs. McGhee is affable, intelligent 
and is deeply interested in the work of her distin¬ 
guished husband. 

After spending several hours in Covington, I went 
to Cincinnati to take the train for New York. Bishop 
C. H. Phillips and wife joined me, and we all left for 
New York and Europe. We took a sleeper on the 
Pennsylvania railroad. Miles Memorial College presi¬ 
dent took the upper berth in Room No. 9. At 4 a. m., 
the next morning, old morpheus had left me and I 
found myself up at my desk doing some needed clerical 
work that had been unavoidably neglected. The sum¬ 
mer school at Miles Memorial College had just closed, 

with an attendance of 400 teachers, and this school 

* 

with other duties kept me unusually busy, and I nat¬ 
urally needed rest. The best tonic to an overworked 
human being is rest. The nervous system will be 
greatly strengthened when sufficient rest is taken— 
not food, but REST. 

We arrived in New York 5:35 p. m. Tuesday. Dr. 
C. H. Phillips, Jr., of St. Louis, Mo., had been there 
several days arranging for our coming, and the doctor 
had made arrangements for our transportation also. 
He had several automobiles on hand to take us to a 
boarding house to spend the night. I spent a delightful 
night at the home of Mrs. Willie Simpson. Mrs. 
Simpson formerly lived in Huntsville, Ala. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


11 


Wednesday, August 3, Dr. Wiley Wilson, a practic¬ 
ing physician, carried Dr. G. H. Phillips and wife, 
Bishop C. H. Phillips and wife; Mrs. French, Dr. 
Phillips’ mother-in-law, and this scribe to his home 
on the Hudson River. It was a twenty-mile drive. 
This was the home of Mme. Walker, who for many 
years made a preparation to make the hair grow. 

The doctor lives in a white neighborhood and the 
only colored persons living there. 

There are the fewest of white people in the south 
living in such a mansion. Mrs. Walker paid $250,000 
for the residence. The front lawn is very wide and 
the driveway and pavement are beautifully arranged; 
the lawn is well cared for. The building is a massive 
structure three-story brick and looks as white as snow. 
There are five acres of land; a fish pond, and several 
acres of land under cultivation. 

The interior decoration is majestic. The pipe organ 
with chimes is a gem. The carpet that was recently 
taken up cost $1000. There are several bathrooms in 
the home. A gymnasium is in the basement, and this 
is well fitted up. The garage is a brick structure and 
is the same as a dwelling. A reception was given in 
honor of the guests by Dr. and Mrs. Wilson. Mrs. 
Wilson has a daughter of sixteen summers. 

# 

Embark eor France 

Before going aboard the ship, the passport had to 
be visa by the British and French consuls. The pass¬ 
port has a picture on it of the passenger, age, color 
and weight. It must give a full description of the 


23 i Lb HAVRE. ~~ Li baqutboi « France m it la Cie 



The France.” Length 800 Feet; Width. 85 Feet. 







MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


13 


holder. Really, there is too much red tape about it, 
anyway. We sailed on Thursday at 12 noon, August 
4, on the France. This is the largest French vessel 
and one of the fastest. Hundreds of friends were at 
the pier with weeping eyes to bid their friends good¬ 
bye ; handkerchiefs were waving and shouts of fare¬ 
well were heard. The France is more than eight hun¬ 
dred feet long, but it was unable to turn around on the 
Hudson River by itself. This mammoth vessel needed 
help; it was escorted into the Atlantic Ocean by two 
smaller boats. It teaches a lesson to all thinking peo¬ 
ple that it makes no difference what a man has in this 
life, he must have help from his fellowman to enjoy 
it. ‘‘No man liveth to himself and no man dieth to 
himself." Man is a dependent creature and not an 
independent one, and he should let the altruistic spirit 
permeate every fiber of his being. Too often man 
yields to the egoistic inclinations of his being. Our 
entire party was jubilant when we went aboard the 
ship, except Mrs. Bishop C. H. Phillips; she had left 
her baby in Cleveland, Ohio, with some loving friends. 
Mother-like, she could but weep; it was indeed path¬ 
etic ; it was indeed heart-rendering to leave her only 
child at home. We all waved at the Statue of Liberty. 
We were the only colored passengers taking second 
class fare. The bell rang at 1:30 for dinner. 

Dr. C. H. Phillips, Jr., and I repaired to the dining 
room at once. We thought Bishop C. H. Phillips and 
wife and Mrs. Dr. C. H. Phillips had gone to their 
rooms and would come in a few minutes later. They 
missed their dinner and were compelled to wait until 


14 


SOME interesting sidelights 


7 o’clock when supper would be served. I thought if 
breakfast was served at 7 a. m. that some of our 
party would certainly miss several meals. When the 
bell tap for 7 o’clock every fellow was in his place, 
ready, willing and waiting to be served. All passengers 
were assigned to their places at the table, d he bill of 
fare was in French, and none but those who under¬ 
stood the French could read it. I bought a book in 
New York on conversations in French, and I just had 
to study the language. I studied the German lang¬ 
uage in college and read two books, but had not studied 
French. I had studied Spanish years ago, and when I 
was in Mexico I was able to speak Spanish. But 
French, I had never studied before. I had read Greek 
and Latin, and the Choctaw dialect, but never studied 
French. I am convinced that colleges and universities 
in America have made a serious mistake in teaching 
so much Latin and Greek and neglecting some of the 
modern languages. 

It was amusing to see how Frenchy our party was, 
for we certainly kept the porters busy answering 
questions. 

The French menu consists of several courses, red 
and white wine, etc. The French people are the finest 
cooks in the world. There were something this scribe 
never saw before, and never ate them before. I can 
do well without them the balance of my life. The 
last thing to be served at noon is fruit, and when he 
brings it he says, “Finish,” and you may just as well 
to get ready and leave the table. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


15 


The French has the hardest lightbread I ever saw 
in my life. One time I started to put it on the floor 
and mash it with my feet. 

No Color Line on Ship 

There was absolutely no color line on the France. 
If you can pay the bill and respect yourself ,you will 
be respected by the French people. Concert was given 
every night and was really enjoyed. There were many 
trained voices that were really beautiful, but all their 
singing was in French. 

Friday night I retired to bed at 11 p. m., after writ¬ 
ing several letters and doing some reading. I read 
the twenty-third and twenty-fourth Psalms and prayed 
earnestly for divine protection on the sea. The night 
was calm, and this scribe had a delightful repose. At 
3 o’clock I awoke and thought of Longfellow’s 
poem, “Rock Me in the Cradle of the Deep.” This 
was my second night at sea. There was no land to 
be seen—nothing but water, water! The writer would 
make a poor Baptist—it was just too much water for 
me. It was indeed beautiful to gaze upon the foaming 
billows and madden waves. 

What seemingly was a puzzle to me to know how 
could I content myself on the water for eight days. I 
thought of trying to walk on the water like Peter, but 
Christ was nearby and saved him. I read for my 
morning lesson Acts 27 and the first chapter of judge. 
I got a great deal of pleasure and comfort in reading 
of Paul’s voyage to Rome. Paul’s vessel was caught 
in a storm and the passengers thought they would all 
be destroyed, but the angel of the Lord visited Paul 


16 


some: interesting sidelights 


and said to him, “Be of good cheer: for there shall he 
no loss of any man’s life among you but that of the 
ship.” There was more significance attached to the 
reading of Paul’s voyage to Rome than ever before. 
I was the first one on deck Friday morning to see the 
rising sun reflect its brilliant rays like diamonds on the 
bosom of the sea. Tonight Dr. C. H. Phillips, Jr., 
and myself spent two hours on upper deck watching 
the starry heavens. Venus uncovered her face and 
threw several kisses at us and reminded us of years 
gone by. She was dressed in diamonds and was most 
beautiful to behold. It was real cold. It was rather 
shocking to see so many white women smoking ciga¬ 
rettes. It is bad enough to see men folks smoking, 
but when it comes to women indulging in the use of 
the filthy weed, may God have mercy on them. 

Dr. Thomas Coke: Buried at Sea 

When Dr. Thomas Coke, the pioneer Methodist 
superintendent, was sent to America by John Wesley to 
ordain Francis Asbury, general superintendent of 
America of the Methodist family, he remained there 
for some time before returning to England. Many 
years afterwards, he fell asleep on the Indian Ocean 
and was buried at sea. I am praying to God for a 
safe return home. 

Saturday, August 6, I arose at 4 a. m., and read 
the nintieth Psalms; that night about 2 a. m. the 
wind arose and the ship began to rock. I knew I was 
in safe hands, so I fell asleep. It pays to trust in a 
divine Providence. After reading the scriptures, I be¬ 
gan to study French and to familiarize myself with 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


17 


counting French money. The wind was rather boister¬ 
ous all day Saturday and it was real cold. 

A white man’s hat was blown into the ocean. I said 
to myself that it was much better for the hat than the 
man. 

I walked an hour and a half after breakfast as hard 
as I possibly could. A fellow who was accustomed 
to climbing the hills going to Miles Memorial College 
needs to take much physical exercises to keep up the 
proper amount of vitality. Many people get seasick 
for want of proper outdoor exercise. 

Before retiring to bed on Saturday night I read the 
ninety-second Psalms and Jeremiah 5-22 and after¬ 
wards read Isaiah 48-10. My mind was completely 
absorbed in the study of French. I said to myself that 
by the time I reach France it will be mighty hard for 

any Frenchman to cheat me out of my money. 

/ 

Sunday, August 7, I did not enjoy a pleasant night’s 
rest. I drank a bottle of soda carbonate, as was highly 
recommended by Bishop Phillips. This made me sick. 
I have learned that people who never were sick can¬ 
not take medicine like those who are accustomed to it. 
It was Pope who said: “Experience teaches a dear 
school and fools will learn at no other.” I arose at 
3:30 a. m., but rather indisposed; being a medical 
doctor myself I had a supply of medicine on hand, 
and after a thorough diagnosis I was able to apply the 
remedy which brought immediate results. For many 
years I had a successful practice of medicine in Ten¬ 


nessee. 


18 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


I read Jeremiah fifth chapter and sang that beauti- 
ful song, “God Will Take Care of Me.” I am afraid 
that I will wear that song out singing it before return- 
ing to America. 

The Catholic had their services early Sunday morn¬ 
ing. While Bishop Phillips and I were in the parlor 
a white lady from New York suggested that the 
Protestants should have a service at 4:30 p. m. At 
the designated time quite a number of Protestants 
gathered in the parlor for services. 

Prof. Ernest S. Griffith of Princeton University 
introduced Bishop Phillips and myself to the audience. 
Prof. Griffith was en route to Oxford, England, to 
take a post graduate course. 

I announced that old familiar song, “Nearer My 
God to Thee,” which Mrs. French led the singing; 
she has a beautiful voice. And invocation was offered 
by me. “Jesus, Lover of My Soul," was sung. I 
read the twelfth chapter of the first Corinthians, and 
then presented Bishop C. H. Phillips. Tl).e Bishop 
spoke from the twelfth chapter just read for twenty 
minutes. Bishop Phillips held the attention of his 
audience with rapt attention in his elucidation of faith, 
hope and charity, which was indeed beautiful. He 
said faith is fundamental and hope is built on faith, 
and that faith is needed in the material world and is 
needed in the spiritual world, but love is more im¬ 
portant. He said if nations have had more love for 
each other we would never have had the recent war. 
There will never be any more wars if nations and peo¬ 
ple keep the love of Christ within them. The sermon 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


19 


was impressive, rich in thought and clear in diction. 

Sunday evening I had begun the reading of Bishop 
Matthew Simpson's sermon and lectures to young 
men, but did not make much headway today; however, 
I will finish reading this very valuable book before re¬ 
turning to America. v 

My first Sunday on the sea was indeed delightful, 
the sea was calm and the day was warm. I spent 
several hours on upper deck alone, and while there 
fell asleep. 

Supper served at the usual hour; and this scribe had 
grown tired of the hard French lightbread. I said 
to Mrs. Pope that I would give a dollar for a pone of 
cornbread and some hot rolls and syrup. When I 
crossed the sea again, I shall get Mrs. Brown to cook 
me a supply of cornbread, just enough to last me 
seven days. We folks from the swamps of Alabama, 
Georgia and Mississippi are used to cornbread and 
molasses, but these eastern people know nothing about 
such food. 

Monday, August 8 

I arose at 3 :30 a. m., and read the third chapter of 
Lamentation. 

On Tuesday, August 9, I woke up at 2:30 a. m., 
and read Ecclesiastes 2nd. I got ready for the first 
ringing of the bell for breakfast. I was the first of my 
party to reach the breakfast table. I began to walk 
immediately after breakfast, but it was real cold, and 
the wind blew furiously. I often wish that the stu¬ 
dents of Miles Memorial College could have been with 
me on the sea. At 12 o’clock Dr. C. H. Phillips, Jr., 


20 


some interesting sidelights 


and this scribe spent several hours on upper deck, but 
the cold rain drove us into the ship; We had been re¬ 
viewing some French. 

After returning to my room I retired to bed. This 
was unusual for me to go to bed in the daytime. Mrs. 
Brown and my daughter will laugh at me when I tell 
them that I retired to bed in the daytime. On Tues¬ 
day night a few hours were spent in the parlor writ¬ 
ing on my diary. 1 was delighted to hear two small 
boys about ten years of age playing a violin and base 
drum. They played beautifully and were again and 
again applauded by the large crowd. 

The bulletin shows that we are near Havre, France, 
and are due there Wednesday. Oh, how I long to 
see the land once more. I was informed that the 
tides will be high, and we would hardly land before 
Friday. It rained all day Tuesday, but occasionally 
the sun would peep from behind the clouds and smile 
at us. I read Ecclesiastis 4th and retired to bed. 
There was a longing in my very soul to seejand once 
more. 

Wednesday, August 10, 1921. 

After a splendid night’s rest Tuesday night, I was 
very much refreshed, and 1 awoke and read the first 
chapter of Job. Our ship had traveled 480 miles, al¬ 
though it was a very bad day. The wind was rough 
all day, and I spent very little time on the upper deck, 
as it was very cold, and one was likely to take the 
pneumonia. 

At 2 :30 p. m., quite a crowd gathered in the parlor 
where a concert was given for the benefit of French 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


21 


soldiers. The sum of 500 francs was realized. The 
French people are leaders in music; they certainly 
have beautiful voices. The man who whistled the 
solo outwhistles any person I ever heard in my life. 
He could whistle through his nose; he was encored 
again and again. He whistled by putting a few fingers 
in his mouth and sometimes through his nose. 

I spent several hours on Wednesday in the parlor 
writing to my many friends. However, it is impossi¬ 
ble to write all of my friends, and any man who has 
been in public life as long as I have certainly has 
legions of friends. The postage on a letter on the 
ship is 10 cents, in French money or the U. S. and a 
postal card cost 6 cents. 

The postage on a souvenir card cost 5 cents. I 
wrote thirty letters and twenty postal cards while on 
the ship and mailed them. This was quite an ex¬ 
pensive job. While busy writing to many friends, I 
was surprised to see the vast audience standing on its 
feet while the national song of France was being 
played. There was a waving of handkerchiefs and 
clapping of hands. The French people love their na¬ 
tional song, which was sung in French. Afterwards 
the national hymn, “My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” was 
sung and the vast audience arose, but they did not 
know the song. A few of us sung it, but it was 
poorly done. It was certainly an inspiration to sing 
it. We wanted the pianist to play the “Star Spangled 
Banner,” but he could not play it. 

I was the only colored American present that took 


22 


some interesting sidelights 


part in the singing—and you might know how lone¬ 
some I felt. 

I returned to my room and read the 23rd Psalms 
and retired to bed. 

Thursday, August 11, 1921. 

I arose early on Thursday morning, as it was my 
last night on the ship, and read the 71st Psalms. After 
a lengthy walk I went to the parlor to finish some 
letters. When we were about a hundred miles from 
Havre, France, early in the morning we saw land; it 
certainly looked good to me, as we had not seen any 
land in eight days. I thought of the raven that Noah 
sent out to see if the water was abated, but the raven 
did not return. Afterwards he sent out a dove and it 
returned with an olive branch which indicated that 
the water was abated. 

The sea gulls appeared in large numbers and followed 
our ship. Such rejoicing by the inmates of the ship 
when we all saw land! 

Havre, France 

When our ship had reached Flavre, France, at 2:30 
p. m., there were many foreign ships at the wharf. 
The Monanque, Rio Janero, a foreign vessel from 
South America, had a number of Negroes on it; they 
were apart of the ship’s crew. It was at Havre when 
our soldiers landed on their way to the battlefields. 
This is a French port. When we arrived my watch 
and Dr. C. H. Phillips’ watch were six hours and ten 
minutes behind time. We had the New York time, 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


23 


and that time was six hours and thirty minutes slower 
than the French time, so we got the French time. 

It was some time before we could land. All pass¬ 
ports had to be signed and baggage inspected before 
leaving the ship. % 

The stewards and waiters had to be tipped, and they 
were always ready for tips. 

This was my first time to put foot on French soil. 
There were legions of men and boys to carry your 
baggage; really it looked as if they would take it 
without your consent. This sort of thing I had never 
seen before. 

Our train was ready and waiting for us. One of 
the first things I saw at Havre was a drunken man 
the police had arrested. This was the only drunken 
person that I saw in Europe. After leaving the ship, 
we all left for the train, but as the distance was so 
short I decided to carry my own baggage, but when I 
got to the train a Frenchman helped me to put my 
baggage on the train and I had to give him a franc. 
There were legions of porters wanting a job. I have 
never seen a more hungry set than our party was. 
We all were hungry. Several French women had 
some gingerbread, wine candies and grapes. I bought 
a supply of the gingerbread. We boarded the train 
for Paris at 5 :45 p. m., but did not arrive before 10 
o’clock that night. We bought a second-class ticket 
to Paris for $3.00, or thirty-six francs. The 'coaches 
are divided into compartments, and only six persons 
can ride in a compartment—three persons face each 
other. The isle is on the side and not in the middle 


24 


SOME interesting sjdelights 


of the coach, like the American trains. While the 
coach is called second-class, it is finer than the first- 
class coaches in the United States. Every compart¬ 
ment is numbered. I was the only colored person in 
my compartment; there were two native Frenchmen 
and one young Frenchman from Pittsburg, Penn. He 
was en route to Leon, France, to visit his aged mother, 
as he said that he had not seen her in two years. He 
spoke English well. I was rather surprised to hear a 
man who came into my compartment speaking Span¬ 
ish ; he was on his way to Spain. When I saw that he 
was a Spaniard I began to talk with him in the Spanish 
language, for I knew a great deal more about Spanish 
than what I did about French. It certainly pays a 
fellow to know more than one language, if he ex¬ 
pects to travel abroad. He ought to know French or 
German or Spanish; if he can speak either of these, 
he can easily learn any other language. 

It was 10 :30 p. m. when we reached our destination, 
but before leaving the depot we had to present our 
tickets at the gate. The conductor never takes up 
tickets on the train, but he looks at them and marks 
them, but they are taken up at the gate before one 
leaves the station. Here we were in Paris at night 
and without knowledge of any first-class stopping 
place. We were met by two porters ,one a white 
Frenchman and the other a Negro Frenchman; neither 
could speak the English language. We all had learned 
enough of French to make them understand what we 
want. It was some time before we could find a suit¬ 
able hotel. We were taken to three hotels before we 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


25 


could get comfortable quarters. Our party all wanted 
to stop at the same hotel. 

We found comfortable lodging at Hotel Du Temp. 
This is a very fine hotel. I am on the fifth floor in a 
room to myself. After finding a suitable lodging place 
we went to the cafe for supper. A nice warm supper 
was cooked to suit us, except the French bread. When 
I got ready to pay my bill I had to plank down eleven 
francs or eighty-nine cents. In Paris one can get 
twelve franch for a dollar. I paid twenty francs per 
night for lodging. This was merely for a place to 
sleep. I did not enjoy my first night in Paris (Friday 
night). There were hundreds of folks who staid up 
all night. Liquor is sold through day and night and 
that accounts for this restlessness. Too much noise 
for a southern Negro! I retired to bed at 12 o’clock, 
but I was up at my desk at 6 a. m. I had a comfort¬ 
able room and everything was neatly arranged. 

I was rather amused at the way the windows were 
made. There were two double windows to my room 
extending from the floor to the ceiling, and there was 
a rod of iron extending from the floor to the ceiling 
in the middle of the two windows. This rod had a 
catch at the top and a socket. I had a time finding 
out how to open the window. It was rather warm 
several nights and the room needs ventilation. When 
I succeeded in opening the window, the oxygen poured 
into my room and this scribe slept as sound as a 
mouse when the cat is on the scene. 

It was quite amusing the next morning when we 
came to breakfast, and had only been studying French 


26 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


eight days, trying to tell the French women what we 
want to eat. We had a supply of French books and 
several dictionaries, and the readers of these lines may 
know that we kept one eye on the book and the other 
on the waiters. The French people saw that we were 
strangers and had more French in our books than 
what we had in our heads, but this is not unusual. 
We kept the French waiters busy answering our ques¬ 
tions, for they were many. It is easier to ask ques¬ 
tions than it is to answer them. 

Paris 

Paris is a beautiful city, with many large streets. 
There are many very narrow streets; it is laid off 
differently from any large city I have ever seen. It is 
a city of fashion. The short skirts worn by the Amer¬ 
ican women is a fashion that came from Paris, and 
yet I saw some French women wear some of the 
longest skirts that I have ever seen worn anywhere. 
There are many monuments in Paris. The city is 
divided into twenty wards or arrondessenients. It is 
difficult for one to travel over the city without a guide 
who can speak the English language. There are some 
very fine stores in Paris, but goods are high. A little 
money does not go far in this city of fashion. Gaso¬ 
line was eighty-nine cents per gallon, and common 
granulated sugar was twenty-four cents per pound. 
One of the most pathetic things I saw there was such a 
large number of women wearing mourning, apparently 
two-thirds of them were in mourning for a brother, 
father or husband who gave their lives in defense 
of their country. Among the poorer class, the women 



The Airplane That Killed 100 Persons in One Night in Paris. 









28 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


were compelled to do hard work. I saw several 
pushing a wagon full of garbage. 1 he French women 
are very industrious. 

Sightseeing 

When we started out on our first trip of sightseeing, 
we secured the services of a French interpreter. He 
was a native Frenchman, but spoke very good English. 
He said that his wife was killed when the Germans 
dropped bombshells on Paris. Two automobiles were 
hired to carry the party sightseeing. The following 
places were visited: 

Hotel Des Invalides—This is an immense building, 
five stories high and covers an area of 12G,985 square 
metres (138,794 square yards), and was founded by 
Louis XIV in 1870 as a home for mutilated soldiers 
and old worn-out veterans. Emperor Napoleon Bona¬ 
parte, the first, recognized it for this end in his day. 
The French had frequently carried on wars and her 
soldiers who were crippled, and perhaps maimed for 
life, were not properly provided for. So this hotel 
was made the headquarters of the military govern¬ 
ment of Paris. 

The immense German airship, which is seventy-five 
feet long and ten feet wide, was used by the Germans 
to throw bombshells on Paris, and at one time one 
hundred persons were killed; it is kept under a shed 
as a relic. This airplane was well constructed and 
evidences marvelous skill in mechanism unsurpassed 
in any age. There were several captured German guns. 
I was very much interested in viewing the battered 
German tank on wheels. The revolving gun was built 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


29 


in oval shape and was a dangerous implement. The 
men who manned the gun were on the inside and the 
gun was run by gasoline. This splendid piece of ma¬ 
chinery had played havoc with the Allies. The Ger¬ 
mans had been making preparation for this war forty 
years, and had been studying all kinds of devices to 
wreak vengeance on their enemies. The Allies, by 
their military genius, were adequate to the task and 
were able to destroy a number of German tanks. This 
tank was badly battered and it was evident that it was 
caught in the storm of the Allies’ projectiles. 

The: P^ace: Car 

This is the peace car in which President Wilson 
and the Allied representatives met and signed the 
armistice November 11, 1918. The car is a small 
coach and was carried to the battlefield, and it was in 
that car that the Germans were given their ultimatum. 
This car is kept at the Hotel Des Invalides. This 
conference took from Germany all her colonies, and 
forced her to give up Alsace-Lorraine that she took 
from the French in 1870, and compelled her to pay 
an indemnity of more than a billion francs. The old 
wagon Fokker, which was used by Louis XIV, is a 
relic that is worth while to see. 

The: Tomb op Napolpon 

The tomb of Napoleon is in this building; it lies 
beneath the dome of the church, to be reached by the 
corridor leading from the left side of the inner court 
yards; on the right and left of the altar, stairs lead 
down to the crypt. The church of the Invalides was 



« 




MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


31 


built in 1675-1706 in 160 metres (304 feet) in length. 
The tomb of Napoleon was built in 1840. When Na¬ 
poleon met his Waterloo in June of 1815, he was 
banished to St. Helena Island and remained there until 
his death. After his death, France got his body and 
brought it to Paris. 

Near the center of this mammoth building beneath 
the first floor is a brown marble casket; in it sleeps all 
that is mortal of the famous Emperor Napoleon I. 

The names of battles he fought are written on the 
floor of the crypt and all the flags he captured are 
there. I counted more than twenty on Sunday, Au¬ 
gust 14, when Bishop C. H. Phillips and wife; Mrs. C. 
H. Phillips, Jr., and this scribe visited this place. 

The tomb of Napoleon is open to visitors on Thurs¬ 
days and Sundays from 1 to 5 p. m. There were more 
than a thousand visitors at the tomb when we were 
there. An American visitor ought never to go to 
Paris, unless he visits the tomb of Napoleon. The 
French people revere the name of Napoleon, like 
Americans revere the names of George Washington 
and Abraham Lincoln. 

Peace De La Concorde 

This is one of the most beautiful thoroughfares in 
the world. On each side of the driveway there were 
the most beautiful flowers of all kinds that human 
beings could get up. This place was made famous 
during the revolution for the number of persons who 
were gullotined there. It was there where Louis XVI 
was gullotined. There are many statues representing 
the principal towns of France. In the center of “The 


/ 



, - , .i • * \ / W • ' , ' 

325 a- 4PAi\1& ? > - Hotel des Invalided 
Tonibcau de Napoleon 

Le Tombeau en granit rouge de Finland*, present de TEmpereur Nicolas 
de Rutsic. 12 figures colossal*$ de Pradier. reprdsentant les victoires de Napoleon, 
enteureht le Sarcophage *Hauteui«5 m.) - 54 drapeaux pris h Austerlitz cntourent 
le monument Le pcurtour esr en marbre Waive. ♦ 


TOMB OF NAPOLEON 
A Marble Casket. Paris 




MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


33 


Obelisk of Luxor,’’ which is 75 feet high, weighing 
240 tons, a gift of the Viceroy of Egypt in 1834, once 
stood before the Temple of Luxor in ancient Egypt. 
This obelisk was cut out of a solid rock. 

The monument De Strausbury was taken by the 
Germans in 1871 and carried to Germany, but was 
brought back to France November 2, 1918. Louis 
XVI lived at Place De La Concorde, and this was 
once the residence of Napoleon III. This famous 
building was partly destroyed by the Germans. 

Eifeee Tower 

Eiffel tower was constructed of iron by M. Eiffel, 
the famous French engineer. It is 300 metres in 
height (984 feet). This is said to be the highest struc¬ 
ture in the world. .The tower is divided into three 
by two platforms. The first is 57 metres (186 feet) 
from the ground; the second, 115 metres (377 feet) ; 
the third, 276 metres (985 feet). The ascent can be 
made either by the stairs as far as the second floor, or 
by the lift to the top. Tickets can be obtained from 
the ground floor to the top, or from the ground to the 
first or second floors, and the second continued by 
purchasing additional tickets. It costs five francs to 
go to the top of this wonderful piece of mechanism. 
On every landing on the tower the Frenchman was 
busy selling wines, beer, hot lunches and souvenir 
cards. The lift or elevator takes the passengers to the 
top of the tower; the lift holds about 75 persons. 
When we got on the top of the tower, men on the 
ground looked like ten-year-old boys and streets like 
alleys. 



“Eiffel Tower” 


in Paris; 987 Feet High. 












MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


35 


Seemingly everybody was jolly, while it was a se¬ 
rious affair with this scribe. I promised God if he 
will land me safely that I will never get that high off 
the ground any more until I start to heaven. When I 
get that near to heaven again I will never turn back 
any more. The base of Eiffel Tower will cover an 
acre of land, and-it begins with four corners; these 
corners formed by massive iron and steel in a cone¬ 
like shape as it extends upwards. France has led the 
world; she has built the highest tower of any civilized 
nation in the world, and her engineers are to be com¬ 
mended. 

The Presidential Residence 
This is an immense structure and covers quite an 
area, and it is where President Millerand lives. It 
cost more than a million dollars to erect such a build¬ 
ing. There is no lawn to it like we have in Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., for the executive of our country. 

The residence of Premier Briand is indeed beauti¬ 
ful. 

Peace De Trocadero 

This is the largest restaurant in Paris and will hold 
ten thousand people. It was converted into a hospital 
in the war of 1918 for the soldiers. It costs four 
million dollars. 

The Statue oe George Washington 
This statue is on the Place d’Lena, a gift of the 
women of America. This statue was built at a cost 
of many thousand dollars by the American people. 
There is another statue not very far from it; it is a 
statue of George Washington and LaFayette clasping 


36 


some: interesting SIDELIGHTS 


hands after the Revolutionary War. LaFayette took 
an active part in the Revolutionary War on the part 
of Americans, and the school children of America 
erected the monument. This statue clearly demon¬ 
strates the affections of these two countries for each 
other. 

The Arch De Triomphe Du Carrousel 
This arch was erected by Napoleon I in 1806 on the 
model of the triumphal arch of Septimers Serverus 
at Rome. This is a beautiful place, where twelve 
avenues intersect; it has four entrances that never 
close. There is a tablet on the ground and on it is 
written: “Unknown soldiers buried 1914-1918.” They 
were French soldiers. Several unknown French sol¬ 
diers who lost their lives in the World War were 
given a prominent burial. There is another tablet on 
the walls of the arch which shows when France was 
made a Republic in 1870. 

The French government was ruled by emperors 
and kings for centuries. When the French and 
German war had ended in 1870, the Germans had the 
French to establish a Republic. The people were re¬ 
quired to elect a president to preside over the destiny 
of France, while Germany, under the Kaiser, retained 
the imperial government. France then was given a 
parliament and the possibilities of one man declaring 
war was forever eliminated. 

President Wilson's Residence 
This is a magnificent building in the city; among 
the wealthiest people where President Wilson and 
his family lived while negotiating the League of 



PAVILLON D’ARMENONVILLE 
Where President Wilson Dined While in Paris. 




















38 


SOME interesting sidelights 


Nations. This instrument was repudiated by the 
American people. This was the first time that a 
president of our republic had ever visited a foreign 
country. This precedent was set by President Wilson, 
but did not meet the approval of the American people. 
Treaties heretofore were negotiated by the Secretary 
of State. But this instrument is known as the Wilson 
League of Nations. It required several months to 
complete the negotiation of this treaty. 

The Longshore Race Course 

The Longshore Race Course on the Water Lake was 
built by Napoleon I, and it contains 6000 acres of land. 
The waterfalls over a precipice about thirty feet is in¬ 
deed beautiful. This part of the city is called the 
“Woods.” The famous race course was often visited 
hy kings and the rich people during a certain season of 
the year. 

The residence of Mrs. Helen Gould Castelline is in 
the Woods; it is a beautiful mansion and cost several 
millions of dollars. 

The famous Pavillion D’Arminville is where Hinden- 
burg had sent word to the French people in 1918 orders 
for his breakfast. But the German general was sadly 
disappointed and never did visit the restaurant. This 
is a high-class restaurant and only the wealthy people 
can afford to patronize it. The waiters were dressed 
in full black suits; the music was of high class. Presi¬ 
dent Wilson frequently dined there while in Paris. 
Our party took one meal there. This famous restau¬ 
rant is in the suburban pan of Paris, and is noted for 
its beautiful trees. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


39 


The: Art Gallery—Louvre: 

The gallery is opened to visitors daily except Mon¬ 
days. The museum contains the richest collections in 
existence. The picture gallery is open from 9 a. m. 
to 5 p. m. Some of the finest paintings that this scribe 
had ever seen were on the walls of the various rooms; 
some were made in 1565, over five hundred years ago, 
and looked like they were painted a few years ago. 

It is remarkable to see how those pictures have 
been so well preserved for hundreds of years. The 
artists doubtless required much time in the execution 
of their task. 

We ran across Bishop J. W. Hamilton, D.D., of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. I had not seen him 
in thirty years. When I last saw him I was a student 
in Meharry Medical College, and he was pastoring a 
church in Boston. It was Dr. Hamilton then, and he 
delivered a lecture on “Fits and Misfits.” I heard 
him make a remark that he had several Negro class 
leaders in his church. This was during the time that 
the lamented never-to-be-forgotten Dr. John Braden 
was president of Walden University and Meharry 
Medical College—a man who has built his own monu¬ 
ment, not in marble, brick or stone, but in preparing 
hundreds of young men and women for life’s work. 
Their success in life is a monument to this great man. 
Bishop C. H. Phillips, D.D., Fe:ll Among Thie:ve;s 

On Friday night, our second night in Paris, the 
Bishop and Mrs. Phillips and this scribe were taking 
supper at a restaurant. When they were through 
supper, the Bishop called for his bi/1 and was told 


40 


some; interesting sidelights 


that he owed 16 francs and 30 centimes. I was wait¬ 
ing for the Bishop to get through settling up his bills 
before calling for mine. 

I saw the Bishop figuring and his French book in 
the other hand and was rather confused. He wanted 
to know why his bill was so high. I asked him what 
was the trouble ? He said that he had given the porter 
five dollars of American money and that the porter 
had given him only 30 francs. This was just thirty 
francs less than what one can get in Paris for five 
dollars. I let him have twenty francs to pay his bills. 
He owed the porter 16 francs, so he had to make the 
porter give him the right change. Bishop Phillips 
did not tip him and when we left there was some 
cursing done in French. My supper cost me four 
francs and 30 centimes. Mrs. Phillips became a little 
nervous, but I told her that they were not dangerous. 

The Bishop reminded me of that unfortunate Sa¬ 
maritan that went down to Jericho and fell among 
thieves: the Samaritan was badly beaten up, but 
Bishop Phillips was badly scared up. Somehow the 
Bishop did not have any more business on that side 
of the street during his stay in Paris. 

Sunday Morning, August 14, 1921. 

Bishop C. H. Phillips and wife, Mrs. Dr. C. H. 
Phillips, Jr., and Mrs. French and this scribe went to 
the Sacred Heart Church with Mr. Arthur Houston, a 
friend of Mrs. French. This church is on a very 
prominent hill, the highest point in Paris, overlooking 
the entire city. One will have to take an incline ear 
to reach the church. This church was erected by the 



Sacred-Heart Cathedral”—Paris. 











42 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


French clergy. It is 260 feet high; the tower behind 
is 360 feet; the steeple containing the Savoyards are 
the enormous bell measuring ten feet in diameter and 
weighing 20 tons. The Sacred Heart Church is im¬ 
mense and is beautifully decorated. 

There were more than 800 persons attending the 
morning services. The entire service was conducted 
in the French language. The priest and the male 
members who conducted the services were beautifully 
attired with gowns and crown-tipped with gold and 
silver. This elaborate attirement was attractive to 
the eye; the bowing of one knee occasionally had 
much significance to the priest, but to the Protestant 
it was too much man worship. This formalty to Pro¬ 
testants meant nothing. Really I got nothing out of 
the services; nothing instructive, edifying or uplift¬ 
ing. It was minus of the overshadowing presence of 
the Holy Spirit. Such services have not that draw¬ 
ing power that cause Protestants to shed tears and 
burst out with ecstacy and delight. The singing was 
superb and had ma*ny trained voices. After the serv¬ 
ices we inspected the church, and on leaving I said to 
Bishop Phillips, “Let us go to the American church 
and hear some preaching.” 

He and I went to the American church and heard a 
good sermon by Bishop Blake of the M. E. Church. 
This church has about seventy members and is over 
forty years old. The Protestants have made slow 
progress in Paris. Catholicism has its grip on France 
and has had it for several centuries, and in my opin¬ 
ion the Protestants have got to build fine churches 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


43 


there to compete with the Catholic before they can 
make much headway. Bishop Blake preached a great 
sermon on the crucifixion of Christ. He referred to 
the recent World War; he said the World War was 
brought about by those who disrespect human rights 
and have a thirst for power and influence. If man 
would let Christ into his heart and into his life, there 
would never be any more wars. Right is permanent 
and wrong is not. The sermon was logical and force¬ 
ful and was very instructive. The Bishop spoke half 
an hour. After the sermon Bishop Phillips shook 
hands with him and gave me an introduction to him. 
Bishop Blake wore his robe during the delivery of his 
sermon. It was the first time that I had ever seen a 
bishop wear a robe in the pulpit. I presume the Pro¬ 
testants are trying to imitate the Catholic priests. The 
General Conference of the M. E. Church stationed 
Bishop Blake in Europe, with his residence in Paris, 
and he is to remain there for four years. The Baptists 
and Presbyterians also worship in this church. 

The Catholics have a great many fine cathedrals 
that are worth thousands of dollars and have a tradi¬ 
tion of centuries behind them. If the Protestants will 
ever get a foothold in Paris, they will have to build 
costly cathedrals that will compare favorably with the 
Catholics. They ought to build a school, fostered by 
the Protestant family. It seems to me that the Pro¬ 
testants would make greater speed by getting some 
native Frenchmen to seek the Protestant religion and 
then return to Paris and preach in the French lang¬ 
uage. It is a difficult job to try to convert a people 



Madeline Cathedral.” The Largest Church in Paris. 



















MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


45 


without knowing the language. The preacher, if he is 
an American, ought to be able to speak French fluent¬ 
ly. Any missionary who goes to a foreign field is 
handicapped when he cannot converse with the natives 
in their language. The people want missionaries that 
can use their language. After the sermon, we shook 
hands with Bishop J. W. Hamilton in the audience. 

V ERSAIULfiS 

Monday morning, August 15, 1921, our party left 
for Versailles with Mr. A. Houston, our guide. It is 
a distance of fifteen miles and the train sure made 
the trip. The palace of Versailles is open to visitors 
free, but on Mondays you are required to have a guide. 
It was quite fortunate that our guide was an Amer¬ 
ican Negro from Chicago, Illinois, but has been in 
France several years and spoke the French language 
fluently. 

President Woodrow Wilson held meetings of the 
League of Nations in Versailles, and this was its 
birthplace. The League of Nations was intended to 
unite all civilized nations so as to make it impossible 
for war to ever occur. This famous instrument was 
not ratified by the Congress of the United States. The 
president had a senate on his hand of different po¬ 
litical faith and it defeated the League of Nations. 
The Article 10 of the League of Nations gives the 
president power to declare war, when our constitution 
expressly says that Congress should declare war. This 
is too much power lodged in the hands of the presi¬ 
dent, were the views of the Senate, and it virtually 
repealed our constitution. 


46 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


The League of Nations was made an issue in the 
political campaign for the presidency, and Hon. War- 
en G. Harding was elected president by the largest 
electoral vote that was ever given to any of his prede¬ 
cessors. 

The palace of Versailles is one of the most perfect 
buildings in France from an artistic point of view, and 
certainly one of the most instructive to visitors. It 
is picturesque and attractive and offers many attrac¬ 
tive and interesting scenes. It is one of the oldest 
cities in France and for many years was the capital. 

In its original form, it was built while Louis XIII 
was emperor of France, and it was where the French 
kings lived up to the Revolution. The hunting box 
was built in 1624 under Louis XIII, and in it some¬ 
thing was preserved amidst the gorgeous building of 
Louis XIV. The present building was enlarged by 
Louis XlVj to its immense proportions. It has since 
been converted into a museum and has played im¬ 
portant part in great national events. 

The statue of Louis XIV stands in the entrance to 
the court. It was here where he died in 1715, having 
held the imperial reign of the French government for 
72 years. It was the longest reign of any of the French 
kings. 

Louis XIV was a lover of art. The paintings and 
decorations were ordered made by him. The glass 
gallery was built during the reign of Louis XIV by 
Mansart over a terrace forming an oblong between 
two pavillions.. The decoration was superintended 
by Le Brum, who painted on the ceiling, in thirty 



Library of Louis XVI. Versailles. 











































48 


some: interesting sidelights 


scenes, the history of Louis XIV between 1662-1678. 
Louis XIV was succeeded to the throne by Louis XV. 
Damiens attempted to assassinate the king. But Louis 
XV died with smallpox in 1775. He was succeeded to 
the throne by Louis XVI, who was gullotined January 
21, 1795, and was forcably carried away from the 
palace of Versailles October 6, 1789. The little village 
of Trianon was the country home of Louis XVI and 
is about a mile from the palace of Versailles, and 
during the reign of Louis XVI he gave it to his wife, 
Queen Marie Antonette, who took possession and had 
a delightful English garden made, then called Anglo- 
Chinese. She made it her home, and her children and 
few friends lived there. There was some misunder¬ 
standing between her and her husband, and she pre¬ 
ferred to live apart from him. The chariots used by 
the kings were seven in number, and one kept in 
Trianon. I counted seven chariots and forty pairs 

t 

of harness, pointed with brass. These chariots cost 
many thousands of dollars. 

The kings lived in splendor and had all the honor 
that heart could wish. These rulers had no consid¬ 
eration for the poor, and cared nothing for taxation, 
just so their desires were gratified. 

Queen Marie Antoinette left Trianon and erected a 
home at Swift Palace in the Woods. The buildings 
were made of brick and two stories high. She often 
served under a pavillion among the shady trees dur¬ 
ing the summer. She wanted to live by herself in a 
country home. The buildings are nearly three hun¬ 
dred years old and much delapidated. It was at Swiss 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


49 


Palace, October 6, 1789, when a Parisian mob in¬ 
vaded the premises and compelled her and husband 
to live at Tuleris, and several years afterwards Louis 
XVI was beheaded in Paris. 

These splendid oaks are majestic in proportion; 
give beauty to the place, and a visitor is charmed by 
their appearance. I admired the selection of the 
queen. She was finally beheaded. The French society 
did not approve of her life, living apart from her 
husband. 

This was quite an unfortunate affair among the 
nobility of France. And this misunderstanding be¬ 
tween Louis XVI and his wife culminated in the public 
execution of them in Paris. 

In 1795 the palace of Versailles was converted into 
a manufactor of arms, and, and in 1845 it was pillaged 
by the Prussians; it was occupied in succession by 
Louis XVIII, Charles V and Louis Philippe. 

In 1855 Queen Victoria of England visited Ver¬ 
sailles and was received by Napoleon III. In 1871 the 
palace was occupied by the German forces, and on 
the 18th of January, at Trianon, William of Prussia 
was then proclaimed emperor of Germany. This was 
a celebration of the German victory over the French, 
and France afterwards became a republic and the 
head of the government was elected by the people. 
Kings and emperors were dispensed with and the gov¬ 
ernment of France for the first time was put in the 
hands of the people. The rulers of France by in¬ 
heritance has been forever eliminated, and fitness and 
qualification are the standards measured by. 


50 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


When the election is held in France, the votes are 
carried to Versailles and counted. The government 
of France was transferred to Paris in 1880 , with M. 
Theirs as president. 

There were many rooms in the palace which were 
peculiarly decorated viz.: The Room of Diana, in the 
time of Louis XIV, was the billiard room; these dec¬ 
orations are the same in the time of Louis XIV. 
There is a table topped with Florence mosaics, which 
is one of the rarest pieces of furniture of the time. 
This table was brought to Versailles at the time was 
converted into a museum. 

The Room of Mars^-The ceiling represents the God 
of War, for in the study of mythology among the 
Romans the Mars carried on wars. Over the fireplace 
in this room is a picture of Louis XV when he was a 
child on horseback, with a bridge of Pont Neuf in 
the background. 

The Room of Mercury—On the ceiling Mercury 
is drawn in a car by two cocks; is accompanied by 
vigilance. Louis XIV used this room as a state cham¬ 
ber, and had a bed with a balustrade of wrought silver 
in front. 

The Room of Apollo was a throne room where 
Louis XIV gave audience to ambassadors and other 
distinguished visitors. The tapestry is beautiful and 
represents the interview of Louis XIV and Philip IV, 
the Marriage of the King and Infante Marie Theresa 
and the audience to the ambassador of Spain. 

There was much to be seen in the museum of Ver¬ 
sailles that was very interesting to us. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


51 


The monument to Gambetta was built by national 
subscription to the great French statesman who did 
so much for his country in the cruel days of 1870-71. 
This monument is immense and it cost several hundred 
thousands of dollars. The French revere the name 
of Gambetta. 

The House oe Victor Hugo 
This spacious edifice is open daily except Monday 
from 10 a. m., Tuesday 12:30 p. m. in summer, 4 
p. m. in winter. This was the residence of the famous 
poet from 1833 to 1848. It was there he wrote other 
valuable books. Victor Hugo’s body sleeps in the 
Pantheon by the side of Rousseau, Voltaire and other 
famous men. It was Voltaire who said that it took 
twelve men to establish Christianity, but in less than 
a hundred years Christianity would cease to exist. The 
prediction of Voltaire has proven to be false. Really 
there was no foundation for the assertion. On the 
contrary, instead of Christianity dying out there are 
more nations, tribes and heathens worshipping God 
now than ever before in the history of the world. 
There are no forces of man that can retard the rapid 
march of Christian civilization. 

Rheims in Ruin 

The 16th of August we boarded the train for 
Rheims, a city about eighty-five miles from Paris. 
Mr. Arthur Houston, our guide, accompanied us. 
Rheims is said to be one of the oldest towns in France. 
According to legendary accounts, it is supposed to 
have been established 1440 B. C. After the Flood, 
sometimes to the siege of Troy; it intersects the nat- 


52 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


ural routes between Belgium and Burgundy, and be¬ 
tween the Parisian Basin and Lorraine. Its military 
and commercial position predicts it to be a great city. 
The supposition is that it took its name from the tribe 
of Remi, who at one time occupied almost the whole 
territory now forming the “departments” of the Marne 
and the Ardennes, and who were clients of the Sues- 
siones before the Roman conquert. It was always a 
prosperous town, even when Caesar conquered Gaul. 
It withdrew from the Suessiones government and ac¬ 
cepted the Roman domination. And when the Bel¬ 
gians revolted in 57 B. C., Remi remained faithful to 
Caesar and received the title of “Friends of the Ro¬ 
man People.” When Rheims became a federated city, 
it retained its institutions and senate; Rheims was em¬ 
bellished with sumptuous villas and magnificent monu¬ 
ments, and soon became one of the most prosperous 
towns in Gaul. 

Tradition teaches that in Rheims Christianity was 
first preached during the third century by St. Sixtus 
and St. Sinnirus, the first bishops of the city. When 
the barbarian invasions of Rome occurred during the 
fifth century, the Roman people were unable to over¬ 
come it. This invasion, it is apparent, retarded the 
growth and development of the city and reversed the 
pendulum of progress. It was unfortunate for Rheims 
to have had such a calamity. St. Remi, at the age of 
22 years, was elected bishop of Rheims in 450 A. D., 
and he held the Episcopal reign for 74 consecutive 
years. Such a record is unique in history, and he ar¬ 
ranged the marriage of Clovis with the Christian 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


53 


Prince Clotilde on Christmas 496 A. D. 

For many years Paris was noted as the political 
capital of France, and Rheims became the religious 
metropolis of the kingdom. 

When Louis de Pieus had himself appointed con¬ 
secrated emperor in the cathedral by Pope Stephens 
IV, then every new king must be consecrated by the 
succession of St. Remi. It seems that up to the 
twelfth century popes and kings formerly acknowl¬ 
edged the right of the archbishop of Rheims to con¬ 
secrate and crown the kings of France. 

The archbishop of Rheims wielded the scepter over 
France and was the political dictator. 

This gave Catholicism new impetus and made it 
the dominant factor among the French people. There 
should be no wonder that Catholicism is so well en¬ 
trenched in France and has such a dominant influence. 

The Ceremony oe Consecration oe Kings 

At the consecration of the kings, which usually oc¬ 
curred in one of the cathedrals, thousands of people 
attended. It was a great national affair. Before the 
consecrations took place, the archbishop, at the head 
of a procession, went to receive the Sacred Appollo 
at the threshhold of the cathedral, brought on horse¬ 
back by the Abbot of St. Remi. Returning to the 
altar, the prelate received the king’s oath and then 
consecrated him, anointing him with the holy oil on 
his head and breast, between and on his shoulders, on 
the joints of his arms and in the palms of his hands, 
each motion being accompanied with a special prayer. 
Then the peers handed the insignia of royalty to the 


54 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


archbishop, who, surrounded by all the peers, placed 
the crown of Charlemagne on the head of the king, 
while the people shouted, “Long Live the King!” The 
king was then led to a throne prepared for him at the 
entrance to the choir, and mass was celebrated with 
great pomp. The king and queen communicated in 
both kinds, and the royal party then went in proces¬ 
sion to the archbishop's palace, where the feast of 
consecration was held. This form of consecration 
was in yogue during the twelfth century. For a hun¬ 
dred years of war, Rheim underwent many reverses, 
but she kept up her schools. Gebert, the noted edu¬ 
cator, led the forces. After many years he became 
pope under the name of Sylvester II. On July 17, 
1429, Joan of Arc handed over the keys of the city 
to the king, and was present at the consecration, stand¬ 
ing near the altar with her standard, which, after 
having been through much tribulation, was accounted 
worthy of a place of honor. 

German Invasion 

In 1870 during the French and German war, Rheims 
was captured by the Germans and remained so until 
the war closed and the Germans were the victors. The 
Prussian troops evacuated the town November 20, 
1872. 

Forty-four years to the date, September 4, 1914, 
the German advance troops entered Rheims as Gen¬ 
eral Joffre, the French commander, had not prepared 
to defend the city. When Prince August Wilhelm of 
Prussia entered the city and took up his headquarters 
at the Grand Hotel and demanded that the citizens 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


55 


of Rheims turn over to him 50 tons of meat, 20 tons 
of vegetables, 100 tons of bread, 50 tons of oats, 1500 
gallons of petrol, besides straw and hay, and insisted 
on the immediate payment of a million francs as a 
guarantee that their requirement would be met, the 
demands of the Prince Wilhelm were promptly met 
the same day. The German soldiers began to pillage 
the stores of Rheims and took away millions of dol¬ 
lars worth of goods. At one time they took 70,000 
francs worth of cigars and tobacco. 

Although Rheims was taken by the Germans Sep¬ 
tember 4, 1914, they were driven out of the city Sep¬ 
tember 12. The Germans controlled Rheims only eight 
days. They were forced by the gallant French sol¬ 
diers to evacuate Rheims, and this they did with 
reluctance. Rheims for four years was under a galling 
fire of the German guns, but they were not able to 
take the city. The French contested every foot of 
ground with the Germans. The undominable crown 
prince had his headquarters near Rheims and poured 
a constant stream of shot and shell on the town, but 
his army was repulsed. The Germans knew the value 
of capturing Rheims. It was a splendid city; the 
people were thrifty, and it would have been quite an 
asset to the German army if the Germans could have 
held it in their grasp. 

The Bombardment oe Rheims 

It is apparent that the Germans were determined to 
reduce Rheims to ruins if they could not take it. They 
had no regards for the lives of women and children, 
just so they accomplished their purpose. From Sep- 


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MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


57 


tember 4, 1914, to October 5, 1918, the Germans rained 
explosives and incendiary shells on Rheims without 
intermission. 

September 3, 1914, about 11 a. m., a German aero¬ 
plane dropped bombs on the town. A few of the in¬ 
habitants left as the enemy approached, but the ma¬ 
jority remained. A lady teacher, sixty years of age, 
Mile Fouriaus, afterwards decorated with the Legion 
d’Honneur, who had charge of Hospital No. 101, 
transferred the wounded to Epernay and then returned 
Dn foot to Rheims. At one time from 9 :30 a., m. to 
L0 :15 a. m., 176 large shells fell into the town, three 
of which tore open the great gallery of modern paint- 
• ings in the museum; forty-nine civilians were killed 
and 130 wounded, several of them mortally. 

The Germans had the cathedral fitted up for the 
reception of their wounded soldiers, and some seventy 
or eighty German wounded soldiers were accom¬ 
modated on straw in the nave. The Red Cross flag 
was displayed on each tower, and notice given to the 
enemy. But this had no deterrent effect on the Ger¬ 
mans; they sacrificed the lives of their own men to 
avenge the French. The Germans were willing to 
play havoc with the town to carry out their hellish 
designs. They had no regards whatever for human 
life. 

The German bombardment increased with much 
intensity, and from September 14, 1914, to June, 1915, 
the town never remained more than four days at a 
time without being fired upon. On November 26, 
1914, the Germans fired all day, one shell alone killed 


58 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


twenty-three patients in the hospital for incurables, 
and on February 21, 1915, more than 1500 shells fell 
on the town and killed twenty-one civilians, setting fire 
to scores of houses and piercing the vault of the 
cathedral. This spacious building is 480 feet long 
and 100 feet wide and 125 feet high; it has the longest 
dimension of any church in France. The cathedral 
was struck more than a hundred times. It was badly 
damaged by the German shells, and when we were 
there looking upon its ruins the workmen were busy 
trying to rebuild it. The repair of this building will 
cost many thousand dollars. It was an awful sight 
to see this mammoth structure in ruins. 

At one time the German guns set twenty-two build¬ 
ings on fire, and while the unfortunate inmates were 
trying to extinguish the fire and save their homes and 
valuable belongings, the Germans often fired on the 
burning building to drive off the men who were try¬ 
ing to save them. This was indeed an inhuman act, 
and the like among barbarians would have been ad¬ 
missible. 

The archbishop’s palace, which was completely de¬ 
stroyed, was a famous structure where many kings of 
France lived and often stayed when they visited 
Rheims. Henry IV lived there during his two so¬ 
journs at Rheims. He washed the feet of the poor on 
Holy Thursday in the great hall and listened to the 
sermon of Father Catton. Louis VIII and Richelieu 
stayed there in 1641; also Louis XIV in 1680; Peter 
the Great in 1717; Louis XV in 1722; the queen in 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


59 


1765; Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in 1774, and 
Charles V in 1825. 

The archbishops formerly held many councils and 
synods there, but seldom stayed there. 

It is obvious that the archbishop’s palace furnished 
a reception for many dignitaries of France when visit¬ 
ing Rheims. This palace was beautifully decorated. 

There were 14,000 houses in Rheims before the war, 
but when the war had ceased there were about 600 
habitable when the people returned home. There were 
117,000 inhabitants and about 26,000 remained during 
the war, while the others fled to other parts of France 
for safety. It was indeed an awful sight for the 
thousands to return home, homeless, without shelter 
or food. They witnessed a catastrophe unparalleled 
in the history of France. Such a calamity was heart¬ 
rendering and indescribable. 

Rheims is built over cellars, and they are many. 
The schoolhouses were abandoned and was unsafe to 
use, so the school was opened in the cellars Decem¬ 
ber 7, 1914, after being closed several weeks. The 
enemy’s line was two miles and a half from the school. 
The proximity of the German line to Rheims afforded 
greater opportunity to destroy the city. 

We took breakfast in Rheims and then hired an 
automobile to drive us 45 miles in the country and 
saw the famous Hindenburg line. We passed through 
several villages that it was said had a number of beau¬ 
tiful residences on them, but the German guns had 
mowed them down and no vistage of them can be 


seen. 


60 


some: interesting sidelights 


When we came to Berry-au-Back, we got out of the 
automobile and walked a quarter of a mile. The 
village has been completely demolished, except a few 
houses. The Germans had dug under the ground and 
prepared sleeping quarters; the chambers were fur¬ 
nished with beds and other household goods. The 
French succeeded in driving the Germans from Berry- 
au-Back, but they were determined to recapture the 
village. The Germans bombarded the village with 
heavy guns, which destroyed the quarters of the 
French soldiers and entombed 1200 of them. We saw 
where the shells plowed through the hills several feet. 
It was a pitiful sight to see where those brave men 
lost their lives. Some of their bodies have never been 
found. 

On the road to Coronne, we saw where the crown 
prince of Germany once lived. His den was made out 
of blocks of solid rocks under the ground. He was 
indeed protected from the guns of the French. 
He had a driveway cut under the pike, where he could 
go for miles under the ground to personally inspect 
the troops and to give orders. He took no chances for 
his life. 

Before reaching Cronne, we passed the Newville 
Farm; this farm is cut up into trenches and mined 
with German mines and shells. It is dangerous to 
attempt to cultivate them. We were told that it will 
be five years before it will be safe to attempt to cul¬ 
tivate that valuable rich land. Hundreds of acres of 
valuable rich land lie uncultivated which might be 
bringing foodstuff to feed the French people. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


61 


We passed the national cemetery where sleep sev¬ 
eral thousands of German, French and English sol¬ 
diers. This place is not very far from Rheims. 

The German soldiers’ graves are marked with black 
crosses, while the French and English soldiers are 
marked with white crosses, but they all are buried in 
the same cemetery. 

At Cronne we got out and went into the tunnel cut 
by the Germans. The tunnel is five miles long and 
has a railroad track in it extending to the other Ger¬ 
man army. This tunnel afforded transportation for 
foodstuff and heavy guns. The trains that hauled the 
freight were not exposed to the fire of the French. 
I started to pick up a pencil, but I had forgotten that 
the Germans mined watches, clocks and gold pens, so 
when any one picks it up it would explode and destroy 
human life. The tunnel is a masterpiece of engineer¬ 
ing. Many stately oak trees and other kinds were 
poisoned by the Germans on their retreat and all of 
them were dead. At times the two opposing armies 
were about three miles apart. We saw several graves 
of French soldiers buried on the hillside; about three 
or four graves together. On our return to Rheims 
we came a different route through the wheat farms. 
I was indeed interested in seeing how the French 
people had shocked their wheat. They did not shock 
it like we do in the south and west, but put it up like a 
house. The famous Hindenburg line was not to be 
crossed by French soldiers. It was death to the Allies 
to cross the line, as predicted by the Germans, but 
the Allies crossed it anyway. 


some interesting sidelights 


G2 


Our trip in the country was 45 miles long and we 
returned to Rheims in time to catch the evening train 
for Paris. 


Statue: op Joan op Arc 

There was an equestrian statue of Joan of Arc near 
the cathedral, built by Paul Dubois. I he cathedral 
was in ruins; the beautiful paintings and costly dec¬ 
orations, which cost thousands of dollars ,were de¬ 
stroyed, and nothing but a part of the walls of the 
cathedral was standing, and the workmen were busy 
removing the rubbish, preparing to rebuild that once 
magnificent structure. The French revere the name 
of Joan of Arc. This was a masculine statue. It was 
phenomenal to see that this statue was never damaged, 
although it was within thirty feet of the cathedral. 

French Farms 

Extensive farming is carried on in France; the crops 
are planted in blocks; the hills are cultivated, and at 
the foot of the hills the French build rock walls to 
hold the soil to prevent it from washing away. There 
are 38■ millions of people living in France and the area 
is less than Texas. Wheat and vegetables are the 
product of the country. I did not see any corn grow- 
ing at all. I saw a man plowing six oxens at once 
breaking up ground to plant wheat. The French al¬ 
ways break the ground very deep before planting their 
seeds. I never saw a man plow six oxens before. 
There is a lesson to be learned in the way the French 
farm. 

After our trip in the country from Rheims, we had 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


63 


to pay the automobile man his price and then gave 
him a tip of $20.00. 

This tipping business is a chronic disease with all 
European people, and it certainly is annoying to Amer¬ 
icans. It appears to me that when a fellow gets his 
money for his services it should be sufficient. Why 
get double pay for services rendered? When an 
American declines to give them such tips as they think 
they should have, they become intensely angry, and 
rest assured that fellow will never serve you again. 

Return to Paris 5 :05 

While standing near the American Express office, a 
fine looking, well-dressed colored man came up and 
introduced himself to me. His name was Osceola E. 
M. Kaine, a director of an orchestra, a graduate of 
Harvard University, and formerly lived in New York; 
he was born in South Carolina. He was in the United 
States army in France and had been living in Paris 
fifteen months since the World War. He spoke 
French fluently, and he said that he had studied at 
Harvard. To speak the French language or any for¬ 
eign tongue, one must live in that country where the 
language is spoken. Those who teach the French 
language in our colleges and universities cannot hold 
any sort of conversation with the French in France; 
they have not enough of French at their command to 
ask for a drink of water, or the time of day. You 
cannot learn a foreign language from books, but it 
comes from contact and association. The ear must be 
trained to hear the French pronounciation. The for¬ 
eigners who come to our country do not begin the 


64 


some: interesting sidelights 


study of the English language by reading the gram¬ 
mar. They learn a word here and a word there, and 
the name of this thing and the other things, and by 
hearing the English language spoken all the time they 
soon learn how to ask a few questions. After they 
have learned the English language, then they begin 
the study of grammar. 

It is very expedient for those who contemplate 
going abroad to begin the study of French, or one of 
the foreign languages, or German, or the Italian. The 
French language is spoken in France and Belgium and 
Switzerland, and if a fellow has a knowledge of the 
French language he can easily learn the Italian. I 
had studied German, but never studied French, nor the 
Italian language; but if a a man knows anything about 
Latin he can easily learn the Italian language. It is a 
waste of money in our colleges to employ professors 
to teach a foreign language who have not studied it 
abroad, or had not been taught by a native professor. 

It would be good judgment on the part of some of 
our colleges to send a bright young man or woman 
who has the A.B. degree abroad to study French. Mr. 
Kfrine gave me an introduction to Dr. Andrew Rue 
Jule, a Negro French doctor from Haiti. He is as 
black as ebony, though very handsome. He graduated 
from the University of Paris. He can speak a little 
English, but he can read it well. His native tongue is 
French. He was contemplating coming to the United 
States to live; he wanted to go where he could see 
large number of colored people live. He has a large 
practice of medicine among the French. He thinks 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


65 


the white people in the United States burn Negroes 
any time. He does not believe that a Negro’s life is 
safe in this country. 

There is a colored lawyer in Paris by the name of 
M. Alcarndre. He is an able lawyer and stands high 
at the French bar. Flis clients are all white. But the 
French are impervious to color; they require one to 
have character and fitness and the essential elements 
with them. In this country, color is the pre-eminent 
qualification for position; but brain has no color. If a 
man has the necessary amount of gray matter on his 
brain he will eventually rise and come to the front, 
and should be given equal opportunity in the race of 
life. 

I was favorably impressed with the hospitality of 
the French people and their love for humanity, but if I 
would choose where I would spend the remainder of 
my days in the United States or France, there would 
be no hesitancy on my part in choosing the United 
States. 

Goods were high in Paris; granulated sugar was 
selling at twenty-four cents a pound, but when I left 
Birmingham it was selling at six cents a pound. Gaso¬ 
line was selling at 80 cents a gallon, but in Birming¬ 
ham it was selling for 26 cents per gallon. 

French Francs Fluctuate 

There is an unstability of French currency. It is 
up today and down tomorrow, and it is a risk to run 
when a man invests largely in French money. It is 
more like gambling. Uncle Sam’s dollar remains the 
same three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, 


66 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


whether it is gold or silver or currency. This coun¬ 
try is on a gold basis. The francs that are issued by 
the Bank of Paris are valuable and have equal pur¬ 
chasing value anywhere in France, but the francs is¬ 
sued by certain banks in other cities are only good in 
the city in which they were issued. 

A visitor has to be on the alert and not accept such 
money. The United States dollar has a purchasing 
value everywhere in Europe, but among the exchanges 
the checks on the Guarantee Bank of New York have 
a greater purchasing power than you can with the 
United States dollar. I was rather surprised to get 
that information, which was verified when I had to 
buy the French francs. 

On to Rome 

Thursday, August 18, 1921, our party purchased 
tickets to London via Rome, Venice, Milan, Lucerne, 
Brussels, Waterloo, Metz, etc. We had the privilege 
of stopping over at any city we desire. 

The distance from Paris to Rome was more than a 
thousand miles and costs me 1,245 francs, or $95.00 
in United States money for a ticket. The ticket took 
us to London, and the whole distance was more than 
two thousand miles. We all got a sleeper to Rome, 
which was first-class. The American Express Com¬ 
pany keeps seven or eight clerks on hand selling tickets 
to tourists and others. The large ticket office was full 
fiom 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. It took us four hours to pur¬ 
chase tickets. The French ticket clerks were very 
courteous and they all can speak English. The man 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


67 


who can speak English in France is a valuable asset 
to any business. 

When I purchased my tickets the francs had gone 
up, but I bought them with Travelers’ check of the 
Guarantee Company of New York. I got 12 francs 
.72 on the dollar, but my friend, Bishop Phillips, got 
12-60 francs for a dollar. We really got more for 
the Guarantee check of New York than what we 
could get for the American dollar. It pays to buy 
travelers checks when going abroad, or even when one 
happens to take a trip in this country and will be 
away from home several weeks. While in Paris I 
lost a ten-dollar Guarantee check on New York bank 
in a hotel. Some one found the check and forwarded 
it to the Guarantee Bank of New York. The bank 
wrote to the First National Bank of Fairfield, Ala., 
where I purchased the checks and I was soon located. 
It was sent to me over a year after I had returned 
home. It happened that I had never signed it, but 
had I signed it any person could have drawn it. The 
travelers check does not require identification or en¬ 
dorsement, just write the usual signature. We left 
Paris at 11:45 a. m. We had to have our tickets 
visa before we could get a ticket for Rome ;the Italian 
consul visa our tickets and it cost me ten dollars, while 
Bishop Phillips and wife paid only ten dollars. With¬ 
out this visa you could not enter Italy. Your pass¬ 
port must be presented with your photo on it from the 
Secretary of State. 

Bishop Phillips and Mrs. French had a trunk—the 
Bishop had to pay twenty francs on his trunk. It 


68 


some: interesting sidelights 


was quite fortunate that Mr. Houston was there to 
assist us, as he could speak the French language. 

There are several tunnels from Paris to Rome that 
we had to pass through. The country is mountainous, 
and I saw some of the highest hills that I had ever 
seen in my life. The land is poor and barren, and I 
did not see how the people could make a living. I do 
not blame the Italian farmers from leaving Italy. I 
was assigned to Room 12 with a young white man 
from New York. He was an architect and was going 
to Rome. I did not care to sleep in the room with 
him, although he was congenial. The very nature of 
the Negro is repugnant to this sleeping with white 
people and vice versa. How to get out of this dilemma 
was a question that puzzled me. The Negro never 
feels comfortable sleeping with white people; he labors 
under a misapprehension that something will go wrong. 
Really he sleeps more sound with members of his 
own race. He is cognizant of the fact that the white 
man does not regard him as his social equal, and he is 
unwilling to insinuate himself in his presence. 

) 

No self-respecting Negro wants to sleep in the same 
bed with a white man; he prefers being to himself. 

There is a racial instinct which impels the Negro to 
seek the companionship of his own race. 

Arrangements were finally made for the New Yorker 
to get a lodging somewhere else. This, of course, left 
Miles Memorial College president in a room to him¬ 
self. This arrangement was quite satisfactory to both 
of us, as neither of us had any objections. Dr. C. H. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


69 


Phillips, Jr., and I talked until 11 p. m. before re¬ 
tiring to bed. 

While enjoying a splendid repose after being on 
the train for several hours, I was awakened about 1:30 
a. m. My door was opened and light turned on and a 
man cried out: “Passports! Passports!” I knew 
then that we had reached the Italian line. I locked 
my door before retiring to bed and put the light out, 
but when I was awakened the door was open and the 
light turned on I did not understand how it was done. 
Bishop Phillips and Mrs. French had to go to the 
baggage room and open their trunks to the Italian 
officers for inspection. This was rather annoying to 
passengers who were tired and enjoying a night’s rest. 
However, we had to conform to custom. The officers 
inspected my suitcase to see whether I had some im¬ 
ported goods carrying them to Italy. 

It is a custom of mine to rise early every morning. 
I arose at 6 a. m. on Friday and began to study the 
Italian language. Really I put in much of my leisure 
hours studying it. It is easy to one who has studied 
Latin; I found it much easier than French. 

The trip from Paris to Rome was a delightful one 
and very enjoyable. We got three meals a day. The 
meals were better than those we got on the ship going 
to France, but they were very high. They cost 15 
francs each, besides the wine. We passed through 
Spiza, an Italian marble quarry, where their finest 
marble is quarried. 

We passed along the Mediterranean Sea where Paul 
crossed in going to Rome. This sea is very wide and 


70 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


runs more than a hundred miles parallel with the 
railroad. 

On Friday at 7 :30 p. m. the engineer rang the bell, 
the whistle blew and the porter hollered out: “Rome! 
Rome!” We had reached our destination, a place that 
I had been reading about for more than forty-five 
years. We were taken to Hotel Marini, where we 
were given comfortable quarters. Before retiring to 
bed I read the last two chapters of the Acts of the 
Apostles: “And when we came to Rome, the centurian 
delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; 
but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a sol¬ 
dier that kept him.” 

I went to Rome, not as a prisoner like the Apostle 
Paul, but as a visitor. Here is where the Christian 
people suffered their greatest persecution. 

According to the antique legend, Romulus founded 
Rome 753 B. C. on seven hills dedicated to Pales, a 
little village which history calls “Roma Quadrata,” 
which took its name from Rumon on course of the 
water of the Tiber River that flowed at its foot. Old 
Rome is said to be founded on seven hills. Rome is 
quadrilateral in shape and overlooking those marshy 
valleys which were afterwards drained, and their sites 
are known by the names of Velabro, Circus Maximus. 
Rome was inclosed by a wall. The old walls are there 
now and seemingly about fifteen feet high along the 
Appian Way, where Julius Caesar often returned from 
war. This was a public thoroughfare. The Via Appia 
was the most antique and the most celebrated of all 
the military consular roads, and placed Rome in com- 





Where Julius Caesar Often Passed, Coming from War. St. Paul Also Traveled 

This Road. Rome. 







72 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


munication with South Italy and the Hast. It was 
begun B. C. 312 by Appius Claudius the Blind, and 
at first extended only as far as Capua; afterwards it 
was prolonged and reached the coast of the Adriatic, 
on the east at Bindiss, and penetrated into Eastern 
Europe, and as far as Asia Minor by Byzantiun. The 
western branch went along by the Tyrrhenian littoral 
as far as Reggio, then traversing Sicily. Was con¬ 
tinued beyond the sea, and along the northwest coast 
of Africa. 

Where modern Rome is, the city is beautiful and 
has all the appearance of an American city. The 
streets are wider than that of old Rome. Really that 
is the business part of Rome. The pantheon is in 
modern Rome, the only pagan church that stands to¬ 
day. 

Rome for centuries was divided into two classes of 
people, viz.: patricians and plebians, the former was 
the ruling class and made laws for the government of 
the country. These constituted the wealthy people 
and were accorded superior privileges. 'The plebians 
were nothing more than slaves; they were the peasant 
and had practically no voice in making laws for the 
government of the Roman people; they had no consuls 
in the Roman senate. After a while the plebians be¬ 
gan to study their interest more and to observe the 
discrimination against them by the patricians. They 
believed that the peasants of Rome were unjustly 
* treated, that they should be educated and given equal 
opportunity in preparing themselves to be of greater 
service and should be allowed representation in the 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


73 


Roman senate. These demands were made by them. 
It took centuries before they realized their ambition. 
They possessed indomitable courage and much pati¬ 
ence. And by their persistent agitation of their rights, 
they were ultimately successful. They were allowed 
two consuls in the Roman senate. 

Imperial Rulers oe Rome 

The Roman people were bellicose, and seemingly 
they were always ready to resort to the force of arms. 
They were not cultured and refined like the Greeks, 
but cultivated physical force. 

It was many centuries before they realized their 
mistakes in preparing their sons for war, instead of 
developing their mentality. They could never dom¬ 
inate by physical force. They put matter above 
mind. The greatest thing in man is mind. Civiliza¬ 
tion is founded on the development and expansion of 
the human mind. There can be no substitute for 
mental development as the paramount factor in civil¬ 
ization. Without mental development the wheels of 
progress would cease to revolve, and our splendid civil¬ 
ization would revert into a state of barbarism. Evolu¬ 
tion is the bedrock of civilization, but evolution can¬ 
not exist where ignorance reigns supreme. 

The growth and development of a people largely 
depends on the evolution of the mind. Traditions that 
are antiquated often obscure vision and retards the 
process of evolution. 

When Rome was thoroughly convinced that she 
could not measure arms with other nations by resorting 
to physical force, she began to send her sons to Athens, 


74 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


Greece, to study literature and science. Greece for 
centuries led all races in the study of literature, 
science and art. She was conspicuous for her many 
learned men. After the young men from Rome had 
become mentally prepared by their study in the schools 
in Greece, then Rome built a university of her own 
and employed Grecian scholars to teach her sons; 
then Greece was no longer regarded as the mecca of 
learning, but Rome was a splendid rivalry. The pend¬ 
ulum of development of the mind in science, literature 
and art was set to vibrating, and the civilization was 
given greater impetus. 

The most illustrous leaders of ancient Rome were 
Julius Caesar, Augustus, Domitian, Diocletian, Cas- 
tulus, Cicero, Silla, Hortensius, Clodius, Catalina, Tib- 
rius, Septimus, Serverus. 

Rome was the home of Virgil, the great poet, and 
his poetic writings were indeed attractive and have 
been read and studied by generations for many cen¬ 
turies. We cannot afford to underestimate the poetic 
writings of Horace. It was a splendid addition to 
Roman literature. All of those great men made their 
contribution to the greatness of Rome in the Latin 
language. But the inhabitants of Rome do not speak 
the Latin language, but they speak the Italian lang¬ 
uage. The Italian language is of Latin origin, and 
many words of that language are the same in the 
Latin. The Italian language has its own peculiar 
idioms. When we would say, “Good morning,” the 
say: Bon jour; for good night, Bonne nuit. Where 


my kurope;an tour 


75 


we would say, “Give me,” the French says, “Donnez 
moithe Italian says, “Datemi.” 

The: Roman Forum 

The Roman Forum is a little valley lying between 
the Palatine, Quirinal, Esquibline and extending to 
the Tiber. It was originally a marsh, which was dried 
by Tarquin the Proud, who drained the water into the 
Cloaco Maxima. 

It was on these grounds where the Sabines, the 
Latins and the Etruscans, who were dwelling on the 
mountains, would gather en masse for commercial 
purposes, and many political and religious meetings 
were held. They went for the discussion of vital 
questions affecting the republic. I stood upon the 
Rostra, which was reconstructed in blocks of tuto, is 
near the spot where the funeral of Julius Caesar took 
place. It was from this Rostra that during the Empire 
the Roman laws were promulgated and sometimes 
the congiarium was distributed. 

The Rostra was used for centuries by the early em¬ 
perors when they delivered fiery speeches that often 
inflamed Rome. The denunciation of certain laws 
and customs was often made in this open forum. The 
people expected to hear something that was burlesque 
in its nature. It was from the Rostra that Julius 
Caesar, returning from war by the Appian Way, 
gathered immense crowds and related to the people 
his magnificent victories in war. Julius Caesar was 
the first and greatest general of the Roman Empire; 
he was orator of no mean ability and as an orator 
was only surpassed by Cicero. He was greatly ad- 



THE ROMAN FORUM 

Where Cicero Delivered His Oration Against Cataline. Rome. 









MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


77 


mired by the Romans and they crowded in large num¬ 
bers to hear this great warrior. Dr. C. H. Phillips, 
Jr., and I went into the Roman Forum and stood on 
the spot where Cicero delivered his famous oration 
against Cataline and stirred the Roman Senate, when 
Catiline attempted to pillage and burn the city; he 
was bitterly denounced by Cicero and his nefarious 
plans were exposed and he was prevented from ex¬ 
ecuting them. 

We saw the place where Julius Caesar was buried; 
also Romulus, the founder of Rome. The inscription 
on the stones has never been translated by modern 
scholar. The Triumphal Arch is where Julius Caesar 
and other emperors of ancient times would pass under 
en route to the Senate. 

There were eleven columns of stone standing 
in the Roman Forum, but the buildings have been 
completely destroyed. These are the relics of the 
past. Near the Forum, where Nero had his dwelling 
constructed of costly marble. Nero was one of the 
most cruel emperors that ever held the imperial reins 
of the Roman government. His mother had her hus¬ 
band put to death in order that her son, Nero, might 
become emperor after marrying her step-daughter, 
Octavia, her own uncle’s daughter. She was after¬ 
wards put to death by the hands of her own son. She 
had never dreamed the boy that she fondly carassed 
on her knees and sang many sweet lullabys to put 
him to sleep that the time would come when he would 
bath his hands in her blood. But such is life that 
whatever you sow you will reap again some day. 


78 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


The walls of the building are yet standing, where 
Marcus Aurillius kept wild animals, and where Chris¬ 
tian men were thrown among them because they would 
not worship paganism. 

That was a time when paganism ran rampant and 
was the greatest foe that Christianity had, but suffi¬ 
cient to say that Christianity has had a triumphal 
march, and the opposition has really given greater 
impetus to it. Marcus Aurillius was barbarous, and 
very hostile to the perpetuity of Christianity. The 
king, when he went to the Forum to hear orations, 
had to go by a private way under the ground, for 
fear that his life would be taken. 

The Coliseum 

The Coliseum, which is not very far from the Ro¬ 
man Forum, was an immense structure of brick, stone 
and marble. It would easily seat fifty thousand peo¬ 
ple, and was not covered. The walls are standing, 
but the Italians have taken away the costly marble to 
build cathedrals. Those marble columns were very 
valuable. It is phenomenal to see how such an immense 
building was constructed in ancient times. What 
method was used to elevate those colossal columns to 
such a height is a question that any sane visitor would 
ask. 

'This amphitheatre was built like a cone, and doubt¬ 
less was a beautiful structure in its day; but it has 
been corroded by the hand of time. 

The Church of Quo Vadis 

The celebrated Church of Quo Vadis is on the 
Appian Way, the main thoroughfare to ancient Rome. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


79 


This church is also called Saint Maria delle Piante, 
but takes its name from the well-known legend of 
the apparition of the Saviour to Saint Peter. It is 
said that when the Apostle Peter was escaping from 
the persecution of Nero to safety he knew that Nero 
was brutal in his treatment to his subjects and had 
no regards for human life. Peter came to the place 
where this church stood and he was surprised at the 
appearance of Jesus. It is said that Peter said to 
him: “Domine Quo Vadis?” Which means, “Where 
art thou going, Lord?” To which the Saviour re¬ 
plied, “I go to Rome to be crucified again for the 
flock you are deserting.” 

The writer does not accept all legendary teachings 
or sayings that he has read in Rome. A great deal 
of the legends should be followed with a question 
mark. However, these legends are accepted by the 

Italians as the unvarnished truth. 

/ 

While driving along the Via Appia, we visited the 
Basilica of Sebastian. This is one of the oldest 
churches in Rome, and was founded by the Emperor 
Constantine in the Cemetary and Catacombs. In 
the interior there is a recumbent statue of Saint 
Sebastian, by Giorgetti, a scholar of Bernini. This is 
under the altar, above the exact place where the martyr 
lies below in the catacombs. The stone of the Quo 
Vadis is here. It is said to have the impression of 
the Saviour’s feet when he met St. Peter on the 
Appian Way. 

There was an archeological survey going on in 
that church, and we were informed that it had been 


80 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


going on for two years. We went about thirty feet 
under the ground and then we came to a spring where 
the Christians who worshiped God in the catacombs 
baptized their converts. I saw a great pile of human 
bones, and as soon as you touched one it would crumble 
into ashes. I wrapped up a clavicle bone to bring home, 
but it soon crumbled into ashes. These sainted heroes 
had been buried quite two thousand years. The cham¬ 
bers under the chapel were marked; the Christians 
wrote the names of their dead on stones. The Chris¬ 
tian people who would not worship paganism had to 
dig catacombs under the ground, where they could go 
to worship God, according to the dictates of their own 
conscience. 

The Italians were surprised to make such discoveries 
under that church. This valuable history had been 
hidden for centuries. These excavations will go on 
for years, those who are conducting the archeolog¬ 
ical survey were very much in need of funds to con¬ 
tinue their work. 

I he door of the Basilica was torn up and all worship 
had been suspended. 

\\ hen 1 was walking about in that catacomb, I 
thought of Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones. But I 
was not in the valley, but the pile of bones I saw was 
very high, but I did not ask, “Could these dry bones 
live ? Indeed it was an awful sight. That was a 
time when paganism dominated Rome, and it con¬ 
tinued for centuries until Constantine became the first 
Christian emperor. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


81 


St. Sebastian sleeps in a sarcophagus in the church 
that he was once the pastor. Each one of us had to 
take a supply of candles to go into the catacomb. 
When your light goes out, it is certainly the darkest 
place one ever saw. 

The: Mame;rtine: Prison 

The Mamertine Prison is in the basement of the 
church of St. Giuseppe. This was the principle prison 
of the republic for centuries, and was called the 
Truliarum, a word derived from the Etruscan tullus, 
a spring of water, which makes us suppose that origi¬ 
nally it was none other than a cistern of the Arx Capi- 
tolius. This prison was constructed of two chambers— 
the lower one was the prison, properly is semi-circular 
in form, shaped like a cone, and with gross blocks of 
stone called greperino. It was about ten feet in dia¬ 
meter and about twelve feet in altitude. Originally 
there were no doors to the lower prison, and the only 
communications with the upper chamber was an aper¬ 
ture in the vault through which the prisoners were 
lowered down. 

There is a stone in the ground about a half foot 
thick and is two feet above the surface and an iron 
ring at the end of it. Doubtless the prisoners were 
chained to this stone. Tradition says that St. Peter 
baptized some of the converted prisoners in that spring 
and caused the spring to flow. There was no light 
at all, and only one opening in the center above about 
the size of a man. The prisoners were let down by a 
rope, and there was no chance of their escape. The 


82 SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 

prison had no way to admit fresh air, which made it 
very undesirable. 

The upper chamber of the prison is of recent origin 
and is larger, and is trapezoidal in form. It has 
been transformed into a chapel and dedicated to the 
apostles, Peter and Paul. Just outside of the prison 
in the chapel is the platform of the Temple of Con¬ 
cord, voted by Furius Camillus, Dictator B. C. 387, 
and it is where the peace between the patricians and 
the plebians was celebrated. After the promulgation 
of the Licianian laws it is said the Senate often 
assembled and where Cicero read his fourth Catiline 
oration. Many illustrous prisoners have been impris¬ 
oned there, but the incarceration of Paul and Peter 
made the prison celebrated in all the Christian world. 

Victor Emmanuel Monument 

One of the most majestic and most beautiful monu¬ 
ments in Italy is the Victor Emanuel; it was built in 
honor of Victor Emmanuel, who for many years was 
the king of Rome. In 1884 Giuseppe Sacconi was 
selected to erect this monument to commemorate the 
Union of Italy, and in the following year the first 
foundation stone was laid. The essential parts of 
the monument were completed in 1911. The building 
occupies a space of 135 metres by 139; at the base 
are two fountains which personify the two seas 
which were the shores of Italy, the Tyrhenian and 
the Adriatic—the first is by Canonica, the other by 
Quadulli. On the left of the monument is the ancient 
tomb of C. Bifulus, a plebian Edile, about the last 
days of the Republic, here at the beginning of the 







The Man who Divorced the Catholic Church from the Civil Governmnt in Italy. Rome. 








84 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


Flaminian Way. There are two marble groups, gilt, 
ornament at the foot of the grand stairs; that on the 
right represents Actions, and is by Jerace; the other on 
the left denotes meditation. High above, there are 
two colossal lions on which rests a stand supporting 
the statue Victory, behind which are the beaks of 
two ships designed by Vannicola. On the first grand 
platform there is a base relief called the Altar of the 
Fatherland, and a marble group representing Power, 
by Rivalla; Concord, by Pogliaghi; Sacrifice, by Bis- 
tolfi, and Right, by Nimenes. In the center stands 
out in prominence the splendid statue of Victor Em¬ 
manuel II in bronze, gilt by Chiaradia, and four col¬ 
umns above are four Victories, and on the tympanum 
of the extremity of the portico are Unity, by Butte, 
and Jnberty, by Galloni; in the frieze of the attic, the 
statues represent the seventeen different regions of 
Italy. 

The monument is indeed costly and one of the most 
expensive buildings that this scribe has ever seen. It 
is made of white marble and the artistic designs are 
superb. It was built in honor of Victor Emmanuel, 
the man who divorced the church from the Italian 
government. For many years the ruling power of 
Rome was lodged in the hands of the Pope and the 
Catholic church dominated the politics of Italy. This 
gave Catholicism unlimited sway and the popes will 
have to be obeyed. I his condition became intolerable 
under Victor Emmanuel, who led the fight against the 
dominating influence of the Catholic church. 

d he Italians revere the memory of Victor Em- 



MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


85 


manuel, and regard him as one of the greatest states¬ 
men that Italy has ever produced. 

Catacombs 

The word “Catacombs” is the general name given 
to Christian underground cemeteries constructed sole¬ 
ly for the purpose, and was adopted by the Christian 
workers from the earliest apostolic times till the fifth 
century. 

During the days of severest persecutions those who 
were Christians, and not pagans, worshiped God in 
those catacombs. That was an age when paganism 
had its grip on Rome, and those who believed in an 
intelligent Creator of the universe fled to these cata¬ 
combs, where they could worship God according to 
the dictates of their own conscience. 

These catacombs contained many galleries, and these 
galleries were on an average of two metres high and 
about a metre and a half wide. These galleries cross 
over another at various angles; are placed one above an¬ 
other, so that in some cemeteries there are five stories 
of them. The lineal measure of all the catacombs in 
Rome is about 900 chilometri, or 560 miles. In the 
walls of the galleries there are “loculi” or places cut 
in the rocks in which to deposit the body; for one 
person, “loculusfor two persons it is called “vi- 
loculus,” and arcosolium, or where there is a sarcoph¬ 
agus, under an arch, and this signified the tomb of a 
rich person, or a person well esteemed, and offer for 
martyrs. I saw several of those sarcophagus there. 
There are more than 13,000 places cut in the rocks 
where the dead are deposited. 


86 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


There are seen in the galleries many chambers 
called crypts, for the sepulchre of a whole family, or 
for very eminent persons, or corporations, and these 
crypts are generally frescoed with allegorical paint¬ 
ing and were used for chapels in times of public wor¬ 
ship. During the reign of Marcus Aurillus, the Chris¬ 
tian people underwent severest persecution, many were 
burned alive at the stake like Bishop Polycarp, and 
not a few were thrown among wild animals, like the 
lions, tigers, bears and others of that ferocious tribe. 
Paganism was the predominant religion of that age, 
and it was antagonistic to the worship of God. 

These followers of Christ who believed in an in¬ 
finite God who controls the destines of nations fled 
to the catacombs, where they might worship God un¬ 
molested, according to their own conscience. They 
bravely faced opposition and the persecution, although 
relentless had no deterrent effect upon them; it could 
not swerve them in the least. They held on to the 
promises of God tenaciously, believing that a just God 
would sustain them in the work. These catacombs 
were forty feet deep. Our party was supplied with 
candles to make the trip, and when your light goes 
out it is certainly a dark place. Some of the human 
bones I saw piled up are nearly two thousand years 
old, waiting for Gabriel’s trumpet. 

The inscription on the walls where sleep the dead 
were written in Greek. It is said that when they die 
the chambers and walls were filled first and then new 
chambers would be excavated for divine worship. 
There are forty catacombs in Rome, and six of them 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


87 


are owned by the Jews. The Jewish catacombs are 
constructed like all others, for the Christian people 
got their idea of burial from the*Jews. 

It is said that the colombariun contains the ashes 
of slaves and free men of the house of Livia and 
Augustus to the number of 6000 were deposited. 

Some of the most famous catacombs are S. Calistus, 
Agnes, Sebastian, Niconede, Valentine, Domitella, etc. 

The Bassilica of St. Sebastian was founded by the 
Emperor Constantine in the cemeteries and catacombs. 

Constantine was the first Christian emperor of Rome 
and under him Christianity received new impetus. 

The Pantheon 

The Pantheon is a pagan temple and was built about 
the third century before Christ, and has been de¬ 
stroyed several times, but was reconstructed. The 
last time it was reconstructed was A. D. 118-138 by 
the Emperor Phocas and it was transformed into a 
Christian church in the year 609 A. D., and Bonifiace 
IV dedicated it to St. Mary of the Martyrs on ac¬ 
count of the numerous relics of the martyrs deposited 
in the church from the catacombs. The church is 
picturesque and is well located. It will command the 
attention of any visitor who should happen to visit 
Rome. Its wide portico is quite noticeable (180 by 
50 feet) ; has sixteen colossal granite columns, each 
84 feet high, and arranged in three rows. The dia¬ 
meter of the interior of the church is 132 feet, and it 
measures the same in height from the pavement to the 
roof. 


88 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


This is an immense structure to have no windows 
at all. There is one sole skylight, an open circular 
aperture in the center of the roof, which admits all 
the light except what comes in at the doors. The dia¬ 
meter of the skylight is 28 feet. It thus retains its 
antique aspect, though deprived of its ornamenta¬ 
tion of costly marble, bronzes and statues. When it 
rains the water comes through the skylight and finds 
its way into a sewerage. This mammonth structure 
was first built by the pagans and there they thronged 
to worship idols. There are many distinguished per¬ 
sons buried there; the tomb of the first king of United 
Italy, Victor Emanuel II, occupies the first large 
niche on the right, and in the large niche on the op¬ 
posite side is the tomb of King Hambert I, who was 
assassinated at Monza the 29th of July, 1900. 

This tomb was designed by Cirilli in 1910, and has 
two magnificent allegorical figures; on the right, 
Mumificence, by Yocchi. The altar of the tomb is 
in red porphyry, and placed on it there is a copy of 
the Iron Crown of Lombardy, which is kept at Monza. 

The body of Raphael, the great sculptor and artist, 
reposes there, to wait until all kindred tribes and 
tongues will be called to appear before the bar of 
God. 

« 

In front of the Pantheon, to the left as you enter 
that spacious building, there is a splendid fountain 
supplied by the Aqua Vergine, which was designed 
in 1575 by Longhi and Clement XII. 

There are yet pagans in Rome who worship there; 
they keep up the traditions of centuries, but the in- 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


89 


fluence of paganism is not a potentiality; it is grad¬ 
ually decaying. Catholicism has unlimited sway in 
Rome, while the Protestant religion is gradually gain¬ 
ing ground. 

The Basilica oe Saint Peter 

We visited the famous Basilica, the finest and most 
spacious cathedral of the Catholic church. This church 
cost several millions of dollars. It is the Mecca of 
Catholicism; the Basilica is in the form of a Latin 
Cross, with three naves and several chapels, and a 
majestic dome which rises above the point of inter¬ 
section of the naves and transepts. Visitors are per¬ 
mitted to visit St. Peter from 7 a. m. till dusk; the 
Sacristy, from 9 a. m. until noon; the Treasury and 
Crypt on week days from 9 a. m. till noon, and pay 
one lira. The dome is open to all visitors free on 
the first Saturdays of the month; on other days the 
entrance fee is 50 centesimi; the lift, 50 centimes. 
On Sundays and Holy Days every place is closed ex¬ 
cept the Basilica. 

The Europeans call the elevator a “lift.” Before 
entering the Basilica you pass through the piazza and 
about the center is an Obelisk of Egyptian granite, 
brought from Egypt by Caligula, by way of Oostia, 
and was placed first on the spine of the Circus of 
Caligula, which stood in the Garden of Agrippo, be¬ 
tween the Vatican Hill and the Tiber. It was re¬ 
moved from there and placed where it is. There are 
two fountains which were erected by the order of 
Sixtus V in 1586, who desired to ornament the piazza 
with the two magnificent Fountains, which are there, 






ST. PETER BASILICA AND THE VATICAN 
The Largest Catholic Church in the World. Rome. 


























MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


91 


and both fling high the water with sprays, the one 
on the right was designed by Cardo Maderno in 1620, 
and the other was copied from it and erected sixty 
years later by order of Pope Innocent IV. 

The tradition says that the Vatican Basilica, as we 
see it, was built on the spot where Saint Peter suf¬ 
fered martyrdom, and where he was buried. At first, 
an Oratory was erected on the spot, and afterwards 
the Constantine Basilica was demolished to build the 
present church. 

The first stone of the new Basilica which Julius II 
wished to erect from designs by Bramonte was laid 
in 1506. From that time until that magnificent struc¬ 
ture was dedicated, it was 120 years. The original 
plans of the church had undergone many changes and 
alterations by all the architects, who in turn succeeded 
Bramant and Michelangelo. The colossal dome was 
designed by Michelangelo. The piazza is surrounded 
by an immense colonnade of Doric Architecture from 
designs by Bernini, and was constructed in 1635-37, 
a splendid example of the barocco style. There are 
four rows of columns numbering 284 in all, and on 
the balustrade there are 166 statues of saints of the 
church in travertine. The statues of the Saviour, St. 
John the Baptist, and all the apostles, except Saint 
Peter, are just over the entrance of the doors. 

Three Doors to the Basilica 

There are three prominent doors to the front en¬ 
trance of the Basilica. The Porta Santa, or Jubilee 
Door, is opened during the Holy Year only. This door 
opens every twenty-five years, and so we did not visit 


92 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


there on Jubilee Year. These front doors are made 
of bronze and unusually large. 1 he Grand Central 
is the work of Ghini and Filarette, and was executed by 
order of Eugenius IV in 1442. This is a double door 
and one represent Saint Peter and the other Saint 
Paul, the Saviour and the Virgin Mary in the upper 
range; lower down are the martyrdom of the two 
apostles. At the south end of the portico there is 
an equestrian statue of Charlemagne, and at the other 
end there is a statue of Constantine. 

As one passes along the pilaster on the right there is a 
bronze statue of St. Peter, the foot of which is kissed 
by Catholics. The constant kissing of the foot of 
this statue is causing it to wear out. It is said this 
statue was made in the eleventh century. It was quite 
amusing while we stood looking at this statue, to see 
several Catholic women who came by to kiss Peter’s 
foot. There are many pilasters and on them are mar¬ 
ble medallions with portraits of various popes, rep¬ 
resenting the founders of the different religious or¬ 
ders. While the building is immense, it has nine 
chapels in it. I was expecting to find an auditorium 
that would hold at least 10,000 people, bu,t these 
chapels will hardly hold more than 250 persons. 

The dome to this spacious building is immense. 
The diameter of it measures 42 metres, and the height 
from the pavement to the lantern is 111 metres; to 
the top of the Cross on the outside the height is 143 
metres. The dome was the conception of Michel 
Angelo, the greatest sculptor and painter of Rome. 
The dome was completed by Dominico Fontana in 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


93 


1590, with some additions to the original plans. The 
interior of the dome is beautifully decorated with 
mosaics from designs by Cav. D’Arpiro, and in the 
frieze run the inscription in Latin: “Thou art Peter, 
and on this rock I will build my church.” At the foot 
of each pilaster that supports the dome there is a 
statue of a saint. 

Our guide took us to the room where the parapher¬ 
nalia of the pope is kept. The robe worn by the pope 
cost several hundred thousand dollars; it has some of 
the most costly pearls, rubies and diamonds. 

We went into the room where the pope goes when he 
blesses the people. 

The Crypt 

To go down in the Crypt will cost one lira. The 
legend is that this small vessel is about two feet long 
and a foot and a half wide, and is supposed to contain 
the ashes of St. Peter. Where did the Catholics get 
the body of St. Peter from? The sayings of some are 
incredible. This vessel is made of silver and cost 
several hundred thousand dollars. When the Crypt 
is exhibited, it is lighted by electricity. In the base¬ 
ment of the church there sleeps the bodies of several 
popes. There is a bronze tomb of Innocent VIII. 
There rests the body of Pope Leo XIII, who died 
several years ago. Not all the popes are buried there, 
only a few of them and other distinguished characters. 
The Catholics have had twenty popes. 

The bodies of all the popes that Rome had are not 
buried in St. Peter’s Basilica. Those popes and other 


94 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


once noted men were put in a sarcophagus, which is a 
veritable expensive way of burying the dead. 

The Vatican 

The Vatican is the residence of the pope and is right 
at the Basilica. Symmachus IV in 598-515 was the 
bishop of Rome. He had a residence at the foot of 
the Janiculum, in a locality called Agges or Campus 
Vaticanus, and five centuries later other popes in¬ 
habited. The first nucleus of the present building was 
begun in 1150 near the Basilica of the Vatican; other 
edifices were added by Eugenius II, and in 1191 
Calistine III enlarged the palace, and Innocent III 
surrounded the whole with turreted walls and fortified 
it. However, it was only after the return from 
Avrignon that the Vatican became the official and 
ordinary residence of the pontiffs, the first grand 
work of restoration being undertaken by Martin V, 
and his successor, Eugenius IV, 1417-1431. 

During the time of Nicholas V, new buildings and 
apartments were erected, and for many years his ex¬ 
ample was followed by several succeeding popes, but 
the most noted among them was Julius II, Leo X, 
and Paul III, each of whom summoned the best artists •• 
that Italy afforded to decorate their departments. 

Those two last popes contributed immensely to the 
marvelous collections of art which make up the Vat¬ 
ican, and made it unique and gives it some of the 
masterpieces of art in the world. There are several 
halls in the Vatican. The Vatican picture gallery is 
opened daily from 10 to 3; entrance fee one lira. It 
is not open on Sundays. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


95 


One of the most beautiful halls that I visited was 
Hall IV, the Hall of Raphael; the painting was done 
by Raphael. Some of the most interesting pictures 
were Madonna of Foligno, the Virgin and Child rep¬ 
resented in the picture; St. John the Baptist, and S. 
Francis of Assisi 1512; the Theological Virtues, Faith, 
Hope and Charity; the Coronation of the Virgin; the 
Annunciation; Adoration of the Magi; the Presenta¬ 
tion in the Temple 1503. The Transfiguration of 
Christ was the last and best work of Raphael, left 
unfinished at his death, and was completed by Giulex 
Romano. 

The Vatican Library 

The Vatican Library is open daily from 10 to 3; 
entrance fee, one lira; free on the last Saturdays of 
each month; Sundays and Saturdays closed. This 
library was founded by Nicholas V in 1447, and was 
greatly enlarged by succeeding popes. It has 300,000 
printed works in Latin; 20,000 in Greek, and as many 
more in Oriental languages, besides more than 2000 
volumes of archieves and registers. There are many 
expensive volumes found in the Vatican Library. 

The Stange of Raphael contained many valuable 
paintings by Raphael. The Immaculate Conception is 
frescoed by Podesti with subjects referring to the dis¬ 
cussion and promulgation of the dogma of the Im¬ 
maculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin in 4854. 
The Hall of the Signature was decorated by Raphael 
in 1502. When Julius II saw and admired the work 
of decoration done by Raphael in the Hall of Signa¬ 
ture, in the apartment once occupied by Nicholas V, 


96 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


he decided to inhabit it himself and charged the 
talented painter to complete it. Raphael commenced 
the work, on which he spent nine years from 1502 to 
1517. It was a tedious work undertaken and required 
much mental strain, but Raphael finally completed his 
irksome task, and he received the praise of all who 
saw it. The noted painter possessed great patience. 

The Hall oe the Fire oe the Bogo 
The paintings in this room represented the triumphs 
of the pontiffs over the invaders of Italy. The four 
large frescoes represent the burning of that part of 
Rome called the Borgo, which happened during the 
pontificate of Leo IV (847-855) ; the Naval Battle at 
Osia, in which the allies of Leo IV defeated the 
Saracens in 849, who had invaded Rome. Leo III 
affirming on oath that he had neither act nor part in 
any political intrigue; and the Coronation of Charle¬ 
magne by Leo III, in the Vatican Basilica, on Christ¬ 
mas night in 799. 

Most persons represented in this fresco were really 
portraits of dignitaries of the Court of Leo X, since 
the episode alluded to the pope, desire, and ambition 
of the pontiff. 

Hall oe the Signature 
All of the papal bulls were signed in the Hall of the 
Signature. Raphael seemingly was at his best when 
he painted the Hall of the Signature. The frescoes 
represented the Triumph of the Faith and of Intellect 
in the Research of True Philosophy. The four princi¬ 
pal episodes that apparently pre-eminent were the 
Dispute of the Sacraments, the Mysteries of the Holy 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


97 


Eucharest, the School of Athens, and the various 
schools of philosophy, Apollo on Mount Parnassus, 
surrounded by the Moses, the principal writers and 
poets of Italy. In the medallion of the vault, Raphael 
also had painted the symbols of the frescoes on the 
walls—Theology, Philosophy, Justice and Poetry. 

Heliodorus was expelled by an invisible angel from 
the Temple of Jerusalem, where he had gone to carry 
away the money deposited to the widows and orphans; 
St. Peter released from prison by the angel; Leo III 
induces Attila to renounce his intention of invading 
Rome, and the miracle of Bolsena in 1263. There 
was a doubting priest who did not believe in the 
doctrine of Transubsation, i.e., when taking the 
Lord’s Supper that the actual blood of Christ was 
present. On one occasion the doubting priest was 
present and saw the host actually shed drops of blood. 
There are millions of doubting priests and Thomases 
who do not believe that the Blood of Christ was 
present. After seeing a few people shed blood by 
some skillful plan, I would still have been one of the 
unbelievers. 

Doubtless the priest returned home a firm believer 
in the doctrine of transubstantiation by seeing a host 
of people shedding blood. 

Hall of Constantine 

The scholars of Raphael, working on the cartoons 
of the Master, have symbolized here the Temporal 
Dominion of the Church. Constantine was the first 
Christian emperor of Rome, while all his predecessors 
were pagans. And during their reign the Christian 



98 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


people suffered much persecution; they were com¬ 
pelled to dig catacombs where they might go to wor¬ 
ship God. They absolutely refused to worship pagan¬ 
ism. There were 40 catacombs in Rome; the Jews 
owned six, while the Italians owned 36. These cata¬ 
combs were forty feet deep in the ground, and the 
Christians what few there were died and were buried 
in the catacombs. This was an age of persecutions. 
Those stalwart soldiers of Christ never faltered, nor 
relinquished their faith in a just God. Constantine 
was victorious in his battle with Macentius, and this 
victory gave impetus and encouragement to Christian¬ 
ity. Pope Sylvester I baptized Constantine in 337, and 
afterwards Constantine donates Rome to Sylvester. 
It was a day of ecstacy and many Christian men and 
women shouted and praised God for the glorious 
achievement. The Christians were liberated and were 
not thrown among starved wolves and lions, because 
they would not worship Baal. Those humble Chris¬ 
tians possessed undaunted courage, and unyielding 
in their faith in the triumph of the Cross of Christ. 

The Hall of Constantine was designed to give the 
triumph of Constantine and the Christian faith. The 
primitive Christians were overwhelmed with joy they 
no longer to dwell in catacombs. The head of Macer- 
tius, fixed upon a spear, was carried in triumph on 
the Tiber by the victors. 

The Sistine Chapel 

The Sistine Chapel is one of the most beautiful 
chapels in the Vatican. It is rectangular in shape; 
40 metres in length and about 14 in breadth, lighted 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


99 


by twelve windows. This chapel was named in honor 
of Pope Sixtus IV, who caused it to be built in 1473 
by Bartolomeo Pintelli, a Florentine architect. There 
is a balustrade on the ground floor supporting eight 
candelabra of marble beautifully sculptured, which 
separates the space which is reserved for the celebra¬ 
tion of Divine service from that which is assigned to 
the public. The balustrade is supported by pilasters 
of Greek marble adorned with friezes in the ancient 
style, a most lovely work of the chert of the fifteenth 
century. In the larger division of the chapel a pres¬ 
bytery is erected, an altar of white marble, entrusted 
with precious colored marbles. The altar was con¬ 
secrated by Pope Benedict VIII. On the Gospel, or 
on the left side of the Altar, rises the throne of the 
pope, near which, to the right and left, on solemn 
festivals. There arises the Cardinals, the Patriarchs, 
the Archbishops, the Bishops, in attendance on the 
Throne, and the flower of the pontifical Hierarchy. 
After the death of Pope Leo XIII and of Pius V, 
the sacred conclave for the solemn election of the 
new reigning pointiff, the August Benedict XV. Those 
great head of the Catholic Church remains in secret 
conclave until they have elected a new pope. They 
are not permitted to leave until they have elected the 
man to lead the millions of Catholics. 

The Sextine Chapel 

The Sextine Chapel was constructed in 1473 by 
Gioanni di Dolci. This room is rectangular in shape, 
about 150 feet long by 50 feet wide, and 72 feet high. 
It is divided into two parts by a white marble screen, 


100 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


and beautifully decorated by Poole Dalmata. It is 
lighted by twelve windows with glass of the Italian 
Renaissance type. The lower part of the wall is 
painted in imitation of tapestry by Germisoni, and 
above are Trucans and Unbrian frescoes, and was 
painted between the years of 1481 and 1483 with 
stories from the Bible. 

Thirty years Michel Angelo, under Julius II, dec¬ 
orated the vault .with Biblical events, and the end wall 
with his celebrated fresco of the Last Judgment. 

It is impossible to comprehend and admire this 
magnificent picture of the Last Judgment without 
observation. There is a sermon in the picture to those 
who are called to preach. The great artist, Michel 
Angelo, seemingly was at his best; he depicts eleven 
episodes. 

Above are two groups of angels with their wings 
extended, apparently with a message from God, with 
the symbol of the Passion. A little below these the 
Saviour is seated, showing himself, the Terrible Judge 
seated on a throne to judge the world, to reward the 
righteous and to punish the wicked. While all around 
him stand saints with symbol of martyrdom. Those 
were the redeemed host of Israel that came out of 
tribulation, endured suffering. Still lower down be¬ 
neath these white robed saints, in the center of the 
painting, there is a group of seven angels sounding 
the trumpets to awaken the dead to come to judg¬ 
ment. On the left are the souls of the Redeemed, 
and on their right, the souls of the Lost. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


101 


% 


In the lower lines of the center, the Demon Caron 
appears in his boat, while on the left is the Resurrec¬ 
tion, and to the right, the place of the Lost. The 
seven angels that sound the trumpet were instructed 
to not blow very loud; the righteous were merely 
asleep. I would like to see these modern picture shows 
show the Last Judgment, for it would certainly have a 
great effect on all who would chance to see it. 

I was much interested in the picture of the Last 
Supper and Christ delivering the keys to Peter. 

The Basilica oe Saint Paul 

The Basilica of Saint Paul is in the suburban part 
of Rome, just outside of the walls of the city. This 
is one of the finest churches in Rome; it stands next 
to St. Peter—the Mecca of Catholicism. Traditions, 
according to the Catholic version, say the Apostle Paul 
was buried there. It is said that Constantine erected 
a Basilica of St. Paul on this spot in 324. The 
Basilica has had a varied history and has been de¬ 
stroyed several times. 

Up to the time of the Reformation, St. Paul was 
under the protection of England, as the Basilica of St. 
John Lateran was under the protection of France, 
and Saint Maria Maggiore was under the sovereigns 
of Spain. This ancient cathedral remained until 1823 
when it was destroyed by fire by some careless work¬ 
man. It was at once reconstructed by Pope Leo VIII, 
who charged Poletli with the work. 

The quadrangular portico in front of the principal 
entrance is not yet finished; the facade is ornamented 
with mosaic by Cosni in 1876, in which Christ is rep- 


102 


some interesting sidelights 


# 




resented seated between Saint Peter and Saint Paul. 
In the lower part there are lambs representing the 
faithful, issuing from Jerusalem and Bethlehem; be¬ 
tween the windows there are the four greater prophets. 

The entrance to the church is at present by the side 
door in the north transept. St. Paul is an immense 
structure 125 metres in length; nave 90 metres and 
the total width of the naves 65 metres. The height 
from the pavement to the vault of the central nave is 
34 metres. 

i | .1 

The artists have painted on the walls of St. Paul 
thirty-six incidents in the life of St. Paul; also a 
series of medallions of mosaics with the portraits of 
265 pontiffs, Benedict XV included, are placed around 
the church above the arches beginning with Saint 
Peter, whose effigy is in the right transept. Next to 
Saint Peter is Saint Limus, the son of the British 
Chieftain Caractacus, who was mentioned by Saint 
Paul in the New Testament. 


When I visited Saint Paul, it was not completed, 
but had been under construction for years. Those who 
should happen to visit Rome will make a mistake if 
they fail to visit Saint Paul. 

The Tiber River 

The Tiber River is a small river that runs through 
Rome. The Island of Tiber, according to an old 
legend, was formed by the stoppage of the water, 
caused by the sheaves of corn and other goods and 
chattels of the 1 arcpiins being thrown into the river 
by the people when the kings were expelled from 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


103 


Rome B. C. 510. The island is connected to the river 
banks on both sides by two bridges. 

Our party had a delightful stay in Rome of several 
days in one of the best hotels in the city, viz.: Hotel 
Marino. We had a chance to meet Bishop Ainsworth 
of the M. E. Church, South, while in Rome. There 
were many things I saw and places visited too nu¬ 
merous to mention. The visit to the Royal Palace on 
Sunday evening was a delightful pleasure. This is 
the residence of the king, a spacious building, beauti¬ 
fully decorated. There were quite a number of guards 
on hand. These men were kept busy watching every 
movement of visitors. 

The M. E. Church Coeeege 

The M. E. Church has a college for young women 
with an enrollment of twelve hundred, and has about 
forty acres of land within a short distance from the 
Vatican. The Catholics did not know when the place 
was sold that it would be sold to Protestants for a 
school. They fought it in the courts, but the M. E. 
Church finally won out. Protestantism is more prolific 
here than what it is in Paris, although there are 88 
Catholic churches in Rome and nine Basilicas. There 
is a splendid opportunity for Protestantism, but it 
needs money, and lots of it. The Protestants should 
build fine churches to compete with the Catholic 
cathedrals. Rome needs the Gospel pure and simple 
and less popeism. 

Since Victor Emmanuel divorced the church from 
the civil government, the pope has been shorn of some 


104 


SOME interesting sidelights 


of his great influence, and is not the supreme dictator 
of Italy. 

The streets of old Rome are much narrower than 
those in new Rome. Among the peasants, life was 
miserable, and there was much need of improved 
sanitary conditions. Labor is cheap and a man that is 
poor will take him a long time to accumulate any¬ 
thing worth while. The Italians come to America 
and get rich and then return to Italy to invest their 
money. The lira fluctuates; sometimes an American 
dollar can buy 24 liras, and sometimes it will buy 2(). 
The money has no stability about it. I brought sev¬ 
eral dollars of it home with me. 

On to Venice 

Tuesday night, August 23, 1921, our entire party 
left for Venice, Italy, at 8:45. None of our party 
took sleepers, and we certainly had the hardest and 
most uncomfortable night’s rest that we had witnessed 
in Europe. The trains are divided into compartments 
and only six persons can ride in one compartment. 
The compartment in which I rode there were four 
Italians—one old man and his wife talked until 12 
o’clock that night. It was a mystery to me to know 
wha*. two old people could have been talking about. 
It would have given me untold pleasure if they had 
ceased talking a while and allow a fellow to nap a 
little. Perhaps if I could have understood the Italian 
language, I might have been more interested in them 
and would have enjoyed myself better. But, as we 
were in Rome, we had to do as the Romans do. I 
knew that it would be only a matter of time when old 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


105 


morpheus would lay his hands on them. This predic¬ 
tion was verified, and they fell asleep about 1 o’clock. 
I could sing with much delight that old song of Bishop 
Ken: 

Praise God from whom all blessing flow, 

Praise him all creatures here below, 

Praise him above ye heavenly host, 

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 

It was 10 o’clock Wednesday before we reached 
our destination—Venice. When the reporter shouted, 
“Venice/’ we were all jubilant while our hearts 
shouted for joy. We were tired and worn out on a 
long trip of 300 miles from Rome. The Hotel Marino 
had given Dr! C. H. Phillips, Jr., the address of Hotel 
Salvola E. Yolande; also the proprietor of Hotel 
Marino in Rome had wired his friend of our coming. 

I have never in my life seen a half dozen of 
more hungry human beings, hungry enough to eat 
anything the Italians could prepare to eat. They had 
about lost that fine sense of taste and choice for cer¬ 
tain eatables, but were willing to eat most anything 
to satisfy a hungry stomach. 

After refreshing ourselves, lunch was ready, and 
afterwards I took a stroll over the city. Having read 
of Venice from boyhood, I was anxious to see it. 
Shakespeare wrote of the Merchant of Venice. It 
is a city of water and a splendid place for those of 
Baptist persuasion. 



io tfV* 




%i 

vt 1 


HOTEL YOLANDA. VENICE. 

City Built in Water; 160,000 Inhabitnats; 1,357 Factories; Employees 19,671. 

Where Our Party Stopped. 





MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


107 


History oe Venice 

Venice is on the Adriatic Sea and the charming 
town of the Lagune. It is not merely on the Adriatic 
Sea, but it is in the sea. It is a city of water from 
year in and year out. It was founded by Eneti in 452 
A. D., a nomadic people of Syrian decent coming 
from Asia Minor, from which the name of Venizia, 
or Venice, is taken. 

The people who, previous to the invasion of Italy 
by Attila, the Destroyer 452 occupied various towns on 
the mainland and around the Lagune, were obliged, 
on the destruction of Aquileia, to take refuge in Grado 
and other neighboring islands. For many years the 
other neighboring islands. For many years the in¬ 
habitants of the various islands Jn the Venetian 

I 

Lagune formed distinct and separate communities and 
were ruled by consuls or military tribunes. Because 
of a complex government, there were frequent dis¬ 
agreements. This form of government engendered 
strife and bitterness among the people. In order to 
eliminate strife and to insure peace among the inhab¬ 
itants, it was arranged to unite all forms of govern¬ 
ment under one head or chief, who was to be called 
“Doges,” from the Latin word dux. A public meet¬ 
ing was held in 697 and Palo Lucio Anafesto was 
elected the first Doge. The dignity of Doge was 
abolished and military governors were substituted. 
But in 742 Teodoro Ipato was elected Dodge, and the 
capital was changed from Henaclea to Malamocoo; 
this town was considered a better position to guard 
against disturbances from within and without. After 


108 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


a while the seat of government was transferred from 
Malamocco to Rialto, and it was here where the heart 
of Venice was entered. Angelo was elected Doge 
here in 811 and he has been regarded as the first 
Doge of the Venetian republic. Venice had a thirst 
for power and wanted to become mistress of the sea. 
Having subdued the Oriental coast of the Adriatic, 
Venice engaged for a time in crusades and received 
as compensation the third part of Kaffa and Tyre. 
She then seizes Corfu, subdues Trieste, Muggia, 
Istraia and Dalmatia, and by the war in 1203 against 
the Grecian emperor of the Byzantine, also by the 
conquest of Constantinople by the Doge Enrico Dan- 
dolo came in possession Epirus, Etolia and the Ionian 
Islands. 

When Venice was asserting her superiority at sea, 
she was contemplating the extension of her dominions 
on land. The taking of Constantinople by the Turks in 
1453 and the series of wars carried on at intervals for 
fifty years was the primary cause of the subjugation 
of the Venetian republic. It could not hope to exist 
and, being under a fire for fifty years, it is evident 
that her destruction was inevitable. She occupied the 
Island of Cypress for a while, but it was afterwards 
taken by the Turks. The many reverses that the 
Venetian republic met with and her financial depres¬ 
sion caused by a loss of territory and diminution of 
commerce indicated her decline. She was rapidly 
losing her popularity and prestige. 

The French armies occupied Venice May 16, 1797, 
and in the following year Napoleon sold Venice to 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


109 


Austria. Venice was under Austrian government for 
70 years, but the people were repugnant to the gov¬ 
ernment. Their preference was the Italian govern¬ 
ment, and by a unanimous consent of the people they 
joined to the kingdom of Italy in 1866. This was 
brought about after Austria was defeated by Italy 
and Prussia on July 4, and November 7 of the year 
the republic was under an Italian government. Vic- 
torio Emanuel made his triumphant march into 
Venice amidst the shouts and applause of the people. 

There is a beautiful monument of stone on the 
main street of Victorio Emanuel, who liberated them 
from Austrian oppression. His name has gone ^ own 
in history as one of the greatest generals that Italy 
had ever produced. It was under him that Italy 
ceased domination by the pope and divorced the gov¬ 
ernment from the Catholic church. Such unique char¬ 
acter as Victorio Emanuel will live in the memory of 
unborn generations; he has immortalized his own 
name; he has carved it not on granite and marble but 
upon the hearts and minds of his countrymen. He 
is dead but lives. 

Internal Government oe Venice 

Venice was ruled for many years by Doges, from 
697 when the first Doge was elected. He was elected 
for life and the people swore fealty to the one elected. 
It was the duty of the Doge to preside over the as¬ 
sembly or avenghi, and the policy of the government 
was clearly defined. The people usually took part in 
the administration of affairs by giving their consent. 
It sometimes happened that the Doges became despotic 




110 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


and want to rule with a rod of iron. This caused 
rebellion among the people, and his very life was im¬ 
periled. Paolo Lucio Anatisio lost his life in the in¬ 
surrection in 717, Orso in 737, and Pietero Candino 
IV in 876. How to prevent those frequent outbursts 
of lawlessness was a question of momentous import¬ 
ance. The great council was created with power to 
regulate and define the powers of the Doge. It was a 
violation of law for a Doge to take into his services 
any member of his own family, but two advisers were 
chosen every year from among the most prominent 
citizens to assist him in the administration of the af¬ 
fairs of his office. The great council consisted of 480 
members, and these were elected by twelve citizens 
from each sestiers at the rate of forty each. The 
duration in office of these members was one year, 
after which they had to be elected annually. It was 
the duty of the Great Council to distribute the offices 
and to make preparations for political negotiations. 
The method of electing Doges by twelve citizens was 
changed, and this duty was devolved on the Great 
Council, and instead of having two advisers to the 
Doge he was given six. In 1229 the form of govern¬ 
ment was changed and the “Senate” was instituted 
and was first composed of Pregadi, but afterwards 
the number of members was raised from 40 to 230. It 
was the duty of the Senate to declare war or peace 
and to regulate commerce. 

The responsibility of governing and regulating pub¬ 
lic affairs was a part of the duty of the Senate, 



MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


111 


The judicial function of the government was in¬ 
vested in magistrates. When there were disputes and 
quarrels among the people, the Senate could not ad¬ 
just them, and the final adjudication of all matters of 
the kind was devolved upon the magistrates. They 
rendered decisions and imposed fines and settled all 
controversies. This branch of government was in¬ 
dispensable. 

There were five magistrates, it seems, whose duties 
varied. The magistrate for the people settled quar¬ 
rels among the citizens; those who were natives of 
the republic, the Magistrate for foreigners arranged 
matters for them; lawyers for the republic; the magis¬ 
trate for the poor, to protect the rights of the public; 
and the magistrate of petition for defending private 
causes; and finally the quarantia, or the Council of 
40, so-called from the members constituting it, and 
this was the court of appeal, the court of final adjudi¬ 
cation. Some matters of great importance were not 
settled by this court, but they were taken to the Great 
Council for final adjustment. There was much agita¬ 
tion among the people, and this contention became 
more acute with coming years. 

There were some magistrates who wanted to put 
the government in the hands of a privileged class of 
citizens; others tried to restrict the power of the 
Doge, and on the other hand to limit the power of the 
people. Under Petro Gradengo in 1297, he had the 
composition of the Great Council changed. He de¬ 
creed that only those who were admitted into the 
Great Council prior to 1297 and their descendants 



112 


some: interesting sidelights 


were allowed to participate in the Great Council. This 
rilling made distinction between the social classes by 
reserving the right of management for the privileged 
classes. 

It is evidenced that the spirit of aristocracy was per¬ 
meating the breast of some people who thirst for su¬ 
perior prerogatives. 

The creation of the Council of Ten was a temporary 
institution, but finally became permanent; it marked 
the distinction between nobles and plebians. The law 
required that the names of all persons who had a right 
to sit in the Great Council prior to 1315 should register, 
and every member had to give notice of his marriage 
and birth of sons, in order to gain for them the right 
to become a member of the Great Council. These 
announcements were written down in a book which 
was known as the Golden Book. 

The Great Council became despotic; was clothed 
with too much power. It dispensed public offices, 
created its own laws and became corrupt. Too much 
power is dangerous; it unbalances the average mind 
and causes him to lose his equilibrium. No form of 
government is safe in civilization unless the supreme 
power is lodged in the hands of the common people. 
There should be a limitation to the authority of all 
public servants. It is true that our splendid civiliza- 
tion is profited by the experiences of the past cen¬ 
turies. 

Climatic and Hygienic Condition 

On arrival at the railroad station, we had to take a 








Gondola. Venice, Italy. 










114 


some: interesting sidelights 


gondola or small skiff to go to the city and to our 
hotel. 

All the houses are built in the water; sometimes you 
are in a house and the water is fifteen feet deep. There 
is one public street of land, and that is about 200 feet 
wide and 300 yards long; and the main public square 
where St. Mark Cathedral is will cover about two 
acres of land. There are about a half dozen other 
houses with a front yard facing the public square. 

This is all the land this scribe saw in Venice. The 
city extends over 105 little islands and is connected by 
bridges and canals of communications. It lies isolated 
in the middle of the Lagune and is joined to the main¬ 
land by means of a magnificent bridge at the railway 
station. The climate of Venice is mild and healthy, 
the average temperature being 13.40 degrees centi¬ 
grade ; the average minimum being 2-60 degrees above 
zero and the average maximum 24 above. Violent 
and unexpected changes in temperature are very rare. 
The thermometer rarely goes down 5 degrees below 
zero, and only in very exceptional cases rises to 35 
degrees above. 

In barometrical conditions, the normal average of 
the barometer is 760.63 mm.; the average humidity 
78.35, with a normal maximum of 84, and a normal 
minimum of 73. 

The sanitary condition is most favorable under any 
aspect, so much so that it is recommended in clinical 
advertisements as a climatic station and has been 
endowed by the municipality with a modern sana¬ 
torium on the Island of LaGrazia. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


115 


\ enice has two public shower baths, supported and 
controlled by the municipality. There are two district 
departments, one for men having eight little rooms 
and the other for women with four rooms. The price 
for each bath is 15 cents. 

The Canals and Bridges 
There are 150 canals, of which the two chief ones 
are the Grand Canal and the Gindecia. These canals 
give to Venice its peculiar character, and which serves 
as streets to connect the little islands. The Grand 
Canal is called Canalazzo; is the chief road of com¬ 
munication in Venice. This is one of the most im¬ 
portant thoroughfares in the city, and through it much 
commerce is transported. Its dimension is 4,153 yards 
in length, with an average breadth of 60 yards, and 
it is very attractive and unique. There are many little 
steamers, gondolas and boats of every description and 
size that pass to and fro. It requires an hour to pass 
from one end of the stream to the other. There are 
several marble buildings on each side of this canal, as 
if they were facing a street. The canal of the Gindecca 
was formed by the bed of the old river “Brenio,” and 
it is 1,670 yards long, with an average in breadth of 
331 yards in width. There is a constant passing 
of steamers, ships and sailing boats of every shape 
and size, which evidences the development of the 
maritime commerce of Venice. On this canal the 
festival in commemoration of the deliverance from 
the plague of 1537 was celebrated every year on the 
third Sunday in July. 


t 





View of the City of Venice. 







MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


117 


It was in that year a number of inhabitants tried to 
escape the dreadful disease by taking refuge on a 
thousand barges. At the great festivity the people 
usually spend the night on barges, using Chinese lant¬ 
erns, and spend the time in singing and playing music. 
There are 105 islands and 364 bridges. These bridges 
and rii are used for crossing the canals. They 
span the canals and enable one to go from one store 
to another, and from one house to another. The 
greater number of these bridgs are of ancient archi¬ 
tecture and made of stone ,while others are modern 
in design and structure and are made of iron. 

There are few bridges that are worthy of mention¬ 
ing because of their peculiar history and architectural 
designs. The Rialto Bridge is more than twelve hun¬ 
dred years old and is very substantial. It was built 
in 1180, and is of greater use than any other bridge 
in Venice, because, by crossing the Grand Canal at 
its center, it unites the two points of greatest activity 
in the town. As a thoroughfare, it is indispensable, 
and is the hub of traffic. It was originally made of 
wood, but was afterwards rebuilt with Istian stone, 
between 1588 and 1591, by the Architect Giovanni da 
Ponti by order of the Doge, Pasquale Cicogna. Its 
dimension is 52 1-3 yards in length and 24 yards in 
breadth, having one arch only of marble with a span 
of 30 1-2 yards and a height of about 8 yards. This 
bridge is crowded with people at all hours of the day 
and connects with several buildings. 

The Bridge of Straw, so-called on account of the 
wait made there in former times by barges laden with 


118 


SOME INTERESTING sidelights 


straw. The Bridge of Sighs was constructed in the 
sixteenth century and has no special architectural 
value, but what makes it noted is that prisoners had 
to cross the bridge in olden times when they were 
taken to the jail after being tried by the Council of 
Ten. 

The Bridges of War, the one near Saint Barnaba, 
the other at Saint Fora, were where the wrestling 
games were held, which took place between Nicoliti 
and Castellani. These combatants were to start from 
a certain point, and their object was to throw one an¬ 
other into the water. These wrestling games were 
very attractive and hundreds of people would crowd 
Venice every year to see the fight. However, such 
brutality has been discarded, and the people have a 
higher idea of life. There are two Iron Bridges, the 
one of Saint Simeon and the other of the Academy; 
these were built in 1853 so as to meet the growing 
needs of modern times. The Iron Bridge of the 
Academy joins the Campo di S. Vitale, on the right 
to the Campo della Carta on the left and was built in 
1854 by the engineer Neville. The other Iron Bridge 
of the Railway Station, which serves to connect Venice 
with the mainland, is one of the most colossal, artistic 
work of our times. The engineering was superb and 
its structure stupendous. This bridge will invite in¬ 
spection by foreigners who visit Venice. In utility this 
bridge surpasses them all. 

The construction of this bridge began in 1841, and 
was designed by the engineer, Tommaso Medina, but 
was finished towards the end of the year 1845 and 



MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


119 


was dedicated on January 11, 1846. It took nearly 
five years to complete this bridge. It is 3,937 yards 
long and 10 yards wide and is supported by 222 
arches, each having a span of 11 yards. 

The cost of this bridge to the Vjenetian republic was 
200,000 pounds sterling. There is a pillar erected in 
the center, which records the defense of the bridge 
during the Revolution in 1848-49. There is much 
significance attached to this commemorative pillar; it 
reminds the coming generations of the terrible Revolu¬ 
tion and the loss of human lives. The Three Barges 
intersect the three canals; on days of sacred festivals 
these barges were used to cross the Grand Canal. 
They were invariably used on the third Sunday in 
July at the Feast of the Redentore. They were in¬ 
dispensable on the day of the annual feast of All 
Saints and of commemoration of the dead, and the 
thousands of people who come to visit the Monu¬ 
mental Cemetery on the Island of Saint Michel. The 
custom of paying annual visits to the cemetery has 
been kept up for centuries. No nation can grow and 
become a potent factor in civilization that fails to 
honor its illustrous dead. The future generations can 
be benefited by the noble deeds and traits of the dead. 

The Streets in Calli 

The streets are called Calli and are very narrow 
pathways shut in on both sides by houses. If a street 
is wide and has shops on each side, it is called Ruga. 
These Calli keeps the old names handed down by the 
hand of tradition, and there are a few that are called 
by the name of manufactories located near them. 


120 


SO AIK INTERESTING sidelights 


The Mercria is situated in the center of the town 
of Venice, and the busiest part of the city. The busi¬ 
ness houses of all descriptions are on this street. It 
is the widest street in the city and makes the place 
look like a city. 

There are no automobiles, nor buggies, nor horses 
in Venice. You must travel by water. The people 
amused themselves in taking boat rides, which are 
rather expensive. Henry Ford has no trade in Venice. 
The wealthy people own boats, but the poor class have 
to use gondolas or skiffs. The Campi are the space 
of land in front of the churches; and if they are not 
large they are called Campilli; in case of the Campillo 
being shut in—that is, not having any opening leading 
from it—it is called Corte. There are 127 Campi in 
Venice. These spots of land here and there are very 
valuable when you realized that thousands of houses 
are built in the Adriatic Sea. 

The Lagune 

Venice is a Lagune, which excites admiration and is 
a beautiful panorama in the richness of its memories. 
The Lagune is divided into two parts—the living part 
and the dead one. The living part in which Venice 
is situated is subject to the regular ebb and flow of 
the tide, sometimes causing inundation in certain 
places,, but does not remain long, especially is this 
seen around Saint Mark’s square. The dead part is 
subject to constant filling in of its waters by the rivers 
which flow into them. 


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121 


How Navigation Is Carried On 

The navigation in the Lagune is carried on by 
steamers, and more especially by gondolas. There is 
no railroads of any description in Venice, and the 
inhabitants must rely on boats of various description 
to get about from one place to another. The black 
gondola, tradition teaches, was sung about by poets 
and often dreamed of by lonely souls in love, fills 
the imagination with an infinite store of memories. 
These gondolas were made in 697 during the reign 
of the Doge. 

Many centuries ago those who own gondolas had 
them gorgeously decorated at much expense—such 
elaborate decorations were unnecessary. And this dec¬ 
oration imposed hardships on the poorer classes. In 
the sixteenth century the republic passed a law that all 
gondolas should be painted black and draped with 
cloths of the same color, and thus put a check to this 
excessive decoration of gondolas. The private gon¬ 
dolas are distinguished from public ones by their su¬ 
perior decorations and size, some are trimmed with 
gold. The gondolas are forbidden by law to carry 
more than six persons. On arriving at Venice, either 
at the railway station or by the steamers, and wishing 
to hire a gondola, must use the word “poppe” and 
immediately a gondolier will appear. It is better to 
settle on the price to be paid and the points to be 
visited. The exact address should be given before 
leaving. All gondolas have the number of their li¬ 
cense on them. When you arrive at your destination 
there is a man on the bank ready with a stick to hook 


122 


SOME INTERESTING sidelights 


onto the iron at the stern by which to stop the gondola; 
he is called ganzier, and is not entitled to any tips; 
however, he is generally given 5 centesim. 

The gondolier often used the word “premi,” means 
to the left, and the word “stali” means to the right; 

“delongo,” straight ahead; “scia,” stop the boat, etc. 

» 

Venice is the capital of the province; is a military' 
and mercantile port, and also the seat of the Patria- 
chote. It is well fortified. 

Political Divisions 

The administrative divisions, as was established 
1117 during the time of the Doge Vitale Michiel, that 
it is divided into 6 Sestire. When addressing a letter 
to Venice the number of the Sestire, number of house 
and name of street should be given. These Sestiere 
has been handed down by tradition. For political pur¬ 
poses Venice is divided into three electoral colleges: 
College 1 comprises the district of the second judiciary 
circuit; College 2 comprises the district of the third 
judiciary circuit, with Malamocco, Burano, Murano, 
Cavazuccherino, Murile; College 3 comprises the first 
circuit with Saint Michele del Quarto, Meolo, Mestre, 
etc. 

A representative is elected from each college to the 
National Parliament besides these three political rep¬ 
resentatives ; the other three are nominated from 
Miramo, Pontoguaro and Chioggie. As to the ec¬ 
clesiastical division of Venice, there are thirty parishes. 
The Catholic priests controls every parish in the 
Lagune. 


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123 


The Population oe Venice 
The population of Venice, including the whole com¬ 
munal district, was 160,727 inhabitants, according to 
the last census taken June 11, 1911. Of this number 
159,777 are established residents, and the other 6,950 
are transient residents. Venice itself has 151,405 in¬ 
habitants. There is an increase of 8,128. 

The number of inhabitants in the Sestere district: 


S. Marco_15,510 

Castello _ 39,775 

Cannaregio _ 39,600 

S. Polo_14,268 

S. Croce_16,380 

Dorsoduro _ 25,863 


Total_151,405 

The division of Malamoco_ 3,333 

On the Islands dependent on Venetian Com¬ 
munity _ 2,372 

On the ships and vessels_ 1,313 


Total population _158,423 

Total number of families_ 34,080 

Total number of dwellings_ 25,521 


It is obvious that the inhabitants of Venice have not 
increased rapidly in twenty years. There are a few 
foreigners—French, English and Jews—but the bulk 
of the inhabitants are Italians. It is hard for for¬ 
eigners to become accustomed to living in the water. 
While they doubtless enjoy the balmy air, but a fellow 
feels like going outdoors and walking around his house. 

















124 


some: interesting sidelights 


If he attempts that, he will find himself in from 
fifteen to twenty feet of water. 

Factories and Industrial Buildings 
There are many industrial buildings and factories 
The republic is a great manufacturing center, and has 
a large foreign trade. It is evident that the Venetians 
are industrious and progressive and are ever on the 
alert to advance their country. There are 135 indus¬ 
trial buildings, besides some minor industries, carried 


on at home. 

Mineral industries _ 2 

Fabrics _ 16 

Work from animal residue_ 6 

Work in wood_137 

Metal industries _142 

Industries in porcelain and glass_ 84 

Factories for chemical products_ 25 

Factories for food produce_185 

For clothing_282 

For house furnishings_131 

Buildings _170 

Means for transport_ 34 

For electricity, gas and water_ 8 

For printing and binding, etc._129 

For refuse material_ 4 

Other industries _ 2 


The number of factories which has less than 10 
workmen each, 1,134. The number of factories which 
has from 10 to 25 workmen each is 119. The total 
number of employes in these factories is 19,671, of 


















MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


125 


which 13,813 are males and 5,858 are females. The 
industries carried on at home employ 1,927 persons. 

The industries are chiefly of clothing, such as dress¬ 
making and millinery. Goods were awful high in 
Venice, and the liras were cheap. One dollar in the 
United States money would buy from twenty-four to 
26 liras. We visited the factory that made beads of 
all descriptions, and bought a set of beads for Mrs. 
R. T. Brown and my daughter, Mrs. A. G. Dobbins. 
They were rather expensive; also I bought each one a 
very expensive diamond ring. 

While goods were high, but I found them some¬ 
what cheaper than in Paris. It is a splendid city to 
spend your money. Diamonds and gold were ex¬ 
ceedingly cheap there. 

Bishop Charees H. Phillips Again Among Thieves 

I shall never forget my visit on Wednesday, August 
24, 1921, when Bishop C. H. Phillips and I went to 
town to do some shopping. We had a sad experience, 
and one, I am sure, my old friend, Bishop Phillips, 
will never forget. There are some impressions on 
the mind that will never be erased until death. It was 
a hot day and we went mostly for exercise. 

After looking at several pieces of goods in a store, 
we sat on the public square a while looking at the 
pigeons, then I left for my hotel and promised Bishop 
Phillips that I would return at 7 p. m. I left him 
in good spirits, and said he would go back to the store 
and try to get the Italian merchant to reduce his price 
on the article. After I reached the store, I saw that 
Bishop Phillips was rather excited, and the schlerotic 


126 


SOME INTERESTING sidelights 


coat of his eyes was very visible; his face had an 
awful expression on it, and seemingly he was a few 
shades brighter. I wondered what was the matter. 
Why, Bishop Phillips, what on earth is the matter? 
He began to relate his sad experience, which made 
my flesh crawl on my bones. He said he went with 
the clerk to a store to have some money changed and 
he had to pass through a great crowd, but when he 
had about gotten through the crowd the clerk asked 
him, Did they get his pocketbook? He put his hands 
in his coat pocket and found that his diary was gone. 
Why, he said, Dr. Brown, the thief got the wrong 
book. He missed the Bishop’s pocketbook by a hair’s 
breadth. Why, Doctor, if he have had gotten my 
pocketbook he would have ruined me. I was rather 
surprised at the Bishop going through such a dense 
crowd with a stranger to change money. The Bishop 
will evade these large crowds the remaining days of 
his life, and it will be a job to get him back to Venice. 

This was the second time that Bishop Phillips fell 
among thieves while in Europe. 

Saint Mark Square 

This square now as in former times constitute the 
chief center of interest in the daily life of Venice. It 
was named in honor of Saint Mark, the apostle. In¬ 
deed it is the widest spot of land that I saw in Venice, 
and gives the town a real appearance of a city. The 
square is the shape of a trapezium, and measures 193 
yards in length, 92 yards on the side of the St. Mark 
Basilica and 67 yards on the opposite side. The great 
gathering of the masses of the people for (public 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


127 


amusements or public speaking invariably takes place 
on Saint Mark Square. You can always get a large 
crowd on this square. It is the rendezvous either for 
business or any public display of the town. Open air 
concerts are frequently given by the town band for 
amusements. 

Pigeons 

There is nothing more attractive and entertaining 
to foreigners on the Square as the multitude of pigeons 
I saw, probably about five hundred or more. These 
birds fly all over the Square, circling in and out of 
thecity. They are exceedingly tame and come and 
take food from the hands of people, being sure that 
they will be undisturbed. According to the legend of 
Venice, the Doge would liberate a number of these 
birds on Palm Sunday from the entrance hall of the 
Basilica. These birds find lodging between the pillars 
of St. Mark, and the Senate of the republic contribute 
to their support by providing grain from the public 
granary. They are given Indian corn daily. Any in¬ 
terference with these pigeons will be punished by the 
municipality. 

The Flag Pole 

The Flag Pole is on the Square, right in front of 
St. Mark Church, and was first erected in 1505 by 
Alexsandro Leoquardo. The flag of the Venetian 
republic is very conspicuous, floating in the breeze, 
the exponent of authority which tells the world that 
Venice will protect her country and her constituents. 
It certainly was one of the highest poles that this 
scribe has ever seen. 


128 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


Saint Mark Basilica 

The tradition of Venice says that the body of Saint 
Mark, the Apostle, was brought to Venice in 827 by 
the two nobles, Buno and Ruotico, during the dogato 
of Giustiniano Partecipazio, and St. Mark was pro¬ 
claimed patron of the town and a temple was erected 
in his memory. The first building erected was made 
of gray stone, in the form of a Roman basilica, but 
was afterwards destroyed during the insurrection of 
the people against the Doge Pietro Candiano, when 
they set fire to the Ducal Palace. This mammoth 
structure is on the public square; it is colossal in size, 
with magnificent, gorgeous, Oriental decorations in 
the interior. It is regarded as one of the richest and 
most splendid churches in the world. 

The principal facade, glittering with gold and gor¬ 
geous mosaics of exquisite work, with numerous 
columns. On the front peristyle, which forms the 
entrance hall of the church, open up five large arches 
divided by about 300 columns into two rows and dec¬ 
orated on the inside with famous mosaics. In the 
middle of these arches rise up spires with statues of 
the Evangelist and on the center one, the winged lion 
of Saint Mark, with its right paw placed on the open 
Gospel is to be seen. Just above this is the statue of 
the Lord. 

On the top of the large central arch in the first 
row stand the four bronze horses, which the Doge 
Enrico Dandolo obtained as booty in war, together 
with other works of art, and the three Octavos of 
the Empire after the conquest of Constantinople. It 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


129 


is said that these horses, which measure about two 
yards in height, were originally gilded and belonged 
to the Arch Nero in Rome, from where they were 
taken by the Emperor Constantine and carried away. 

The town having fallen into the hands of the crusad¬ 
ers led, so they say, by the Doge Enrico Dundalo, but 
the horses were transported to Venice in 1200 
by Marino Zeno, but Napoleon Bonaparte, appreciat¬ 
ing their artistic value, had them taken to Paris in 
1797. They were afterwards restored to Venice in 
1815 and put up in the place where they are now. 

As you enter the central hall, one admires the 
central mosaic decorations, above the large door, of 
Liborio Salandri 1836, representing the Last Judg¬ 
ment and in the four side vaultings in the first row 
are the mosaics depicting the Conveyance of St. Mark’s 
body to Venice in 827, the Veneration of the Saints 
and the placing of his remains in the church, as they 
were in the original. On the interior of the Basilica 
there is a rich profusion of gold, different kinds of 
marble and precious stones as the agate, jasper, etc., 
with which the walls and enormous pillars are decked. 
When one enters the side door into the Chapel of St. 
Isdore, built in 1348 in order to take care of the body 
of Saint Mark, whose form is seen stretched out on 
the marble coffer in the altar. Saint Mark doubtless 
died the first century and the Catholics claim that his 
body was found in 827 and carried to Venice. There 
is no evidence that they have produced the proof to 
corroborate their contention that they have really 
found the body of Saint Mark. 


130 


SOME INTERESTING sidelights 


Of course, tradition peculiarly to Catholics would 
verify this contentions; but I have as much faith in 
the story of finding the body of Saint Mark as I do 
in the one of having found the body of St. Peter and 
Paul in Rome. It is purely hypothetic. I said to 
Bishop Phillips that the Catholics have found the body 
of St. Peter, St. Paul, and now Saint Mark; poor 
Luke, by the time I cross the seas again they shall 
have found the body of Luke. 

Seemingly that the Catholics are adepts at finding 
the bodies of the Apostles. There is no scintilla of 
evidence that proves their contention. 

St. Mark's Campanile 

The campanile of St. Mark is indeed majestic and 
is greatly admired by visitors; it stands up almost in 
front of the Basilica on the side where the Piazza and 
Piazzetta meet. This is at the extremity of the Pro- 
curatie Nuove. 

In the construction of the campanile, the framework 
is made of a brick substance and is like a pyramid in 
shape; at the base about 13 yards wide and 12 yards 
at the summit, with a height of 52 yards. The present 
Campanile was finished October 3, 190&. There was 
a striking contrast between the ancient campanile anc 
the modern one of today. The old campanile was 
chiefly made of wood. It was erected in 888. After 
having stood the vicissitude of ages for ten centuries, 
fell on July 14, 1902, at 2 o’clock in the morning, or 
rather laid itself down to rest on the Piazza as if 
being fatigued. It stood the ravages of ten centuries 
In this tower the glories of Venice were celebrated. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


131 


It was a calamity, a tragedy, that was lamentable in 
the highest. It caused quite an emotion among the 
people, and when they went to St. Mark’s Square, 
they stood in breathless silence as they gazed on the 
ruins of the tower. 

On the day that the campanile fell, the Town Coun¬ 
cil met together in haste and unanimously voted a 
considerable sum of money for its rebuilding. After 
the tower was rebuilt and completed, it was destroyed 
by a thunderbolt June 7, 1388. This campanile met 
with many reverses. It was again destroyed in 1403, 
and this was the result of carelessness. 

Several thunderbolts and earthquakes visited the 
campanile and injured it. It seems that fate was 
against this famous structure. 

The tower collapsed on July 14, 1902, and this de¬ 
struction of it became nation-wide and telegrams of 
condolence came from all parts of the world, and the 
spontaneous meeting held to discuss the immediate 
repairing of the campanile. The brotherly response 
of several countries was indeed commendable and 
praiseworthy. Victorio Emanuel III gave 100,000 
lires and many contributions were made from people 
in all walks of life. 

The new campanile measures 110 yards in height, 
and it cost the Venetian republic 88,000 pounds ster¬ 
ling to rebuild it. 

The modern architect put the finishing touches on 
the building, and it is more substantially built now 
than ever. It is certainly stupendous and majestic. 


132 


SOME INTERESTING sidelights 


The Ducal Palace 

The Ducal Palace is considered as one of the most 
famous historical monuments of the town, and for 
its beauty surpasses every other royal palace in the 
world. It occupies entirely the east side of the Piaz- 
zeta, and the facade is 82 yards long. Another 
finer facade, which was built in 1312, overlooks the 
harbor and is 78 yards. It is in this magnificent 
Duilding that the whole political life of the Venetian 
republic carried on its work. The Ducal Palace has 
many places of interest, the large art gallery with 
paintings that are more than five hundred years old. 
But the Piazza is most interesting. There is a nar¬ 
row, dark staircase from the little hall, called the Tre 
Inquisitori, on the second floor of the Palace, which 
leads down to the terrible prison of the seventeenth 
century, which were called the Pozzi. The prison is a 
relic of barbarism, where some of the most inhuman 
treatment was ever meted out to prisoners. It was 
a horrible place. The cells are dark and gloomy, an 
awful sight to see. They were built of Istrian stone 
and divided into two stories, the lower of the two is 
almost on a level with the ground floor of the Palace, 
so they are not really subterranean, but flooded with 
water, as has been described by many writers. 

Since before getting too damp, the walls were re¬ 
covered with larch planking. Each prisoner was 
called by a special name, as for example: The Galeola, 
Avograda, Frescazogia, etc. In one of these cells 
Caramagnola, suspected of treason, was incarcerated 
and afterwards beheaded between the two columns 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


133 


of the Piazzetta in 1492. There was no ventilation 
and only one opening for the prisoner to enter the 
prison and a little side opening about a foot wide, 
just wide enough to put food in. It was indeed in¬ 
teresting to read some of the writings of prisoners on 
the walls. A priest, while incarcerated, wrote: “God 
preserve me from my friends.” 

The room in which prisoners were tortured was 
horrible, some were put on a chopping block and be¬ 
headed, while others were burned alive. Those were 
the darkest days in the history of Venice, days of 
barbarity and inhuman treatment of unfortunate pris¬ 
oners. When the prisoners were executed they were 
conveyed through an opening to the canals and then 
taken in gondolas to the Orfano. These cells are out 
of use now, since a prison has been built on the other 
side of the Rio. The Pozzi is only used for dangerous 
criminals. The punishment inflicted on criminals was 
severe and almost indescribable. In all its severity, 
this did not have much deterrent effect on criminals. 

There were special cells for political prisoners; 
they were not exposed to the extreme heat of summer 
and frosts of winter, but being so near the roof the 
warmth and cold naturally entered more easily. 

Giordano Bruno and Silvio Pellico were detained 
by the Austrian government before being sent to 
Spielberg. Venice has outgrown that kind of civiliza¬ 
tion and her treatment of prisoners is humane and 
according to modern methods. 


134 


some: interesting sidelights 


The Art Gallery 

The Art Gallery with its gorgeous paintings and 
splendid ornamentations is very attractive. Some of 
these paintings were more than five hundred years 
old. There were a great many pictures I admired, 
but I greatly admired the Virgin in Glory; The Adora¬ 
tion of Our Lord; the two Doges kneeling between 
the Saints in front of the Dead Redeemer; the Virgin 
with the Babe; the Dead Christ; Christ in the Garden 
of Gethsemane; the Passage of the Red Sea. There 
is an immense variety of pictures. 

The Sala Del Maggior Consiglio is the largest of all 
pictures in the palace, and it is said to be among the 
largest in Europe, measuring 59 yards in length, 34 
yards in breadth and 17 yards in height. John Ruskin, 
the noted Englishman, said, “The glory of Paradise 
by Jacopo is a sublime conception, which seems 
beyond man’s natural power.” This picture is ex¬ 
quisite and is 31 yards long and 10 yards wide. 

The Town Clock 

On the north side of Saint Mark’s Square, on the 
left of the Basilica is the characteristic Town Clock, 
which was built in 1496 for the purpose of placing 
there the public timepiece, which later was constructed 
by Gian Paolo and Cario Rainieri di Reggio. On the 
first floor of the tower there is a beautiful gilt clock 
face which marks the hours, minutes, zodiac, date and 
lunar phases. On the second floor, in the niche, stands 
the Virgin with the Babe; seated between two doors, 
From the Feast of the Ascension till that of Pente- 
coste, these are seen every day at the stroke of the hour 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


135 


and on the half hour the three Magi come out from 
one of these doors. On the third floor stands the 
Lion of St. Mark on a bracket made purposely, with 
a blue enamel background, dotted over with gold stars. 
This Lion was not destroyed when other monuments 
and emblems were destroyed at the time of the fall of 
the Republic, but was put back in position May 21, 
1798. At the top of the Tower there sets a colossal 
bell which for five centuries the two gigantic bronze 
figures strike the hours and half hours telling the 
inhabitants the time of day. 

Festivities oe Venice 

There was a feast in Venice which carried with it 
greater significance than the Feast of the Ascension 
and Nuptials of the Sea. This feast was instituted in 
991 celebrating the victory gained by the Doge Pieto 
Orseolo II over the Narentanian pirates. When the 
feast was first instituted, the ceremony was very sim¬ 
ple and merely consisted of the visit of the Doge to 
Lido, together with the Signoria and the benediction 
of the sea by the Bishop of Castello; but after the 
peace was signed in Venice in 1177 between Alexander 
III and Federico Barbarosa, the Pope, desiring to 
express his highest appreciation of the powerful ben¬ 
efits received by the Republic, granted many privi¬ 
leges and indulgencies and presented the Doge with 
many valuable gifts. Among these was the ring with 
which every year the sea must celebrate its nuptials 
as sign of the supremacy of Venice on the Adriatic 
and the submission of the sea to the Republic. 


136 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


There was much solemnity in the celebration of the 
victory of the Venetian Republic. The victory ap¬ 
parently was carried to the extreme. 

The Bucintoro, a mammoth ship, was built for that 
purpose and was gorgeously decorated. 

The Doge took a place on the ship on the morning 
of the Ascension Day amidst the cheering of the peo¬ 
ple and was surrounded by the Signoria, the Governors 
of the Arsenal, the Magistrates, prominent men and 
dignitaries of the Republic. The Bucintoro, having 
at its prow the statue Justice, started from the Praz- 
zetta di S. Mark, rowed by 42 oars and guided by 168 
of the most valiant and privileged men of the arsenal 
and sailed majestically towards Lido, escorted by 
numerous vessels richly decorated. 

Directly after passing the mouth of the harbor a 
large vase of holy water was poured into the Adriatic 
from the ship, and the Doge threw a ring into the 
sea, uttering these words: “Desponsamus te, mare, in- 
signum perpetuique veri dominii (“We marry thee, O 
Sea, in sign of absolute dominion.”) The fair at first 
lasted eight days, but it protracted to fifteen. 

Public Oeeices in Venice 

The public offices in Venice are the Royal Prefec¬ 
ture; Municipality; Bureau of Finance; Registration 
Office; Agency for Taxes and State Domains; Mort¬ 
gage Offices; Ground Tax Office; Port and Tele¬ 
graph Offices; Branch Offices; State Telephone; Cen¬ 
tral Police Station; Police Station; The Exchange; 
Chamber of Commerce; Military Command; Marine 
Customs House; Continental Customs; Permanent 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


137 


Medical Help; Tobacco and Salt Stores; Office for 
Distributions of Charities; Archbishop’s Diocese. 

The law courts are: Court of Appeal; Attorney- 
General of the King; Court of Assizes; Civil and 
Penal Tribunal; Courts of Justice for the First, Sec¬ 
ond and Third Circuits; Commercial Tribunal; Mili¬ 
tary Tribunal. They have a Civil Prison; Military 
Prisons; Public Slaughter House and Garometre. 

Milan, Italy 

Our party left Venice at 2:30 p. m. on August 24, 
1921, for Milan, and arrived at Milan at 5 :30 p. m. 
Milan is a beautiful city with street cars, automobiles 
and carriages. It is quite a contrast to Venice, a city 
of water. This scribe was indeed delighted to again 
be in a city where a fellow could walk on land once 
more. We stopped at Hotel Excelsior, one of the 
finest hotels in Milan and very convenient. There 
are many fine stores in the city, but goods seemingly 
were high. The most attractive and interesting thing 
I saw there was the Cathedral of Milan. This church 
was founded by Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti, a Duke 
of Milan, in 1386 A. D. It was built out of white 
marble and is 486 feet long and 351 feet wide; it is a 
mammoth structure, stupendous in its altitude, and is 
adorned with many statues, and the ornamentation is 
sublime. There are several priests and distinguished 
characters buried on the floor of the cathedral just 
as one enters it. Several chapels are of interest to visi¬ 
tors. The paintings are sublime and have stood the 
ravage of centuries, but they yet have a splendid ap¬ 
pearance. 



Milan Cathedral.” Italy. 















MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


139 


The Sepulchral Chapel 

There is a descent of nine steps which leads to the 
Sepulchral Chapel. The gallery is spacious and lined 
with fine marbles, and a portal adorned with beauti¬ 
ful columns, of which the capitals and bases are richly 
gilt. In this Sepulchral Chapel sleep all that is mortal 
of St. Charles Borromeo, who was once the pastor of 
the church. The chapel is octagonal in form, the 
ceiling is round and adorned with eight massive silver 
basso-relievos, the subjects of which record the most 
remarkable events of the Saint’s life. 

The first on the right of the altar represents the 
Saint’s birth in Arona on the Lago Maggiore in the 
year 1538; the second, the provincial council presided 
over by him in this Metropolitan church in the year 
1576; the third, the distribution of the money ob¬ 
tained by the selling of his princedom at Ora; the 
fourth, the administration of the baptism and chrism 
to the dying of the plague; the fifth, the tried murder 
against the Saint during his prayer; the sixth, Saint 
Borromeo carrying in possession the bust of St. Bar- 
naba during the plague; the seventh, his death; the 
eighth, his Apothesis. The eight busts or cariatides 
in the angles around are of massive silver, represent 
allegorically his virtues. The rich tapestry of gold 
woven upon red silk ground executed after the design 
of the eminent painter, Gaetaro Vaccani, in the Silk 
Stuff Manufactory, formerly Reina, at present. Above 
the altar stands a bronze casing decorated with silver, 
in the interior of which is presented the splendid sar¬ 
cophagus with plates of rock crystal, bound with silver 


140 


some interesting sidelights 


moulding, a gift by Philip, the fourth king of Spain. 
A great number of small silver statues adorn it, among 
them those which bear the blazonry of the royal donor. 
Across the glasses you see the Saint’s body in his 
pontifical dress. On his left hand stands a golden 
staff, full of precious stones, a great quantity of which 
glitter also in front of the chasuble. A splendid 
cross of emeralds and diamonds hang in the middle of 
the shrine; it is a gift by the Empress Maria Theresa. 
The golden crown suspended upon the Saint’s head, 
ascribed to the famous Benevenuio Celtini, is a gift 
by Charles Teodoro, elector of Bavaria. A portion 
of the basso-relievos were given by the Archbishop 
Alfonso Lieta and by the Duke Borromeo in the seven¬ 
teenth century and a part by the goldsmiths of Milan. 
The whole value of this chapel is estimated to be 
four millions of francs, or 16,000 pounds sterling. 

The body of Saint Charles Borromeo reposes in a 
silver casket, and it is drawn up for any one to see it. 
There was his picture on the walls and all the features 
of his natural appearance are seen. His skin is dried 
up, but his facial expressions resemble his picture. 
He has been dead 350 years. This was the first per¬ 
son that this scribe had seen dead over three hundred 
and fifty years ago. 

Certainly the Italians understood embalming to pre¬ 
serve human bodies. Of course, you have to pay to 
see the dead priest. It is worth seeing. This sar¬ 
cophagus with its costly emeralds, diamonds and gold 
cost more than a half million dollars. 

My stay was quite short in Milan. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


141 


Lucerne, Switzerland 

We left Milan Saturday, 9:30 a. m., August 27, 
1921, for Lucerne, Switzerland. Our stay in Milan 
was indeed pleasant; the weather was ideal. 

The entire scenery along the road was picturesque. 
When our train got in a hundred miles of Lucerne, 
the Alps appeared on their majestic form, and at times 
it seemed that the lofty peaks of the Alps would throw 
golden kisses to the skies. 

It was indeed a beautiful scenery; great streams of 
water in their mad form were seen rushing down the 
mountain. The atmosphere reminds us of winter, 
and doubtless there were lakes on top of the moun¬ 
tain, as melting snow was visible for many miles. We 
started from Milan with an engine to our train, but 
when it had gone for about 100 miles the engine dis¬ 
appeared and it was run by electricity. I am not 
cognizant when the change occurred from steam to 
electricity. I think the electric passenger train ran 
faster than the steam. 

When our train had reached the border line of 
Switzerland and had left Italy ,the inspectors came 
around to inspect baggage and passports. Those cus¬ 
toms officers were rather annoying, but people who 
travel on passports must submit to them. We opened 
our baggage and said Americans and they passed us 
by. All persons entering Switzerland must have their 
passports vise. There were many passengers on board 
from different countries, and it require some time to 
validate their tickets. The country was rather moun¬ 
tainous and there was not much farming to be seen. 


142 


some: interesting sidelights 


There were many vineyards along the railroad, and 
the people make their living selling grapes and making 
wines. The Swiss are industrious people. 

At 5:30 p. m., the reporter could speak English, 
and he shouted out “Lucerne!”—our destination; the 
bell was ringing, the whistle blew, and we began to 
pack up to get off. We passed through several tun¬ 
nels, which seemingly were 20 miles long. It looked as 
if our train would fall from the side of the mountain. 
It looked dangerous and frightful. Tired and worn 
out, 1 was indeed glad to reach Lucerne. The trains 
run unusually fast, about 50 miles per hour. I had 
been on the road a month, spending a few days at a 
place. 

Lucerne 

Lucerne is located in the very heart of Switzerland 
on Lucerne Lake, and it is a city of 10,000 inhab¬ 
itants. It is within easy reach of all that is grandest in 
the scenery of the Alps. It is the convergent point 
where all travelers meet from north to south, from 
east to west, from Constance and Zurich, from Basle 
and Olyten, from Geneva and Berne. They are com¬ 
pelled to pass through Lucerne. The city holds a 
commanding place on the lake, picturesque and de¬ 
lightful. The three railways and steamboats are the 
means of transportation; passengers are coming and 
going, and commerce is given the right of way. 

From the time that the chestnuts on the beautiful 
quay are opening their rosy blossoms to the spring 
breezes till late in October when the autumnal winds 
begin to strip the leaves from the trees, the flood of 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


143 


foreign visitors never ceases to flow, so that no one 
can claim to know Switzerland unless he has spent 
part of a summer at Lucerne. The air is balmy and 
the park near the lake is a splendid summer resort. 
Seats are provided for those who desire them. Ihere 
are several airplanes to carry passengers, and then 
they light on the lake. 

The first event of importance in the history of the 
village was the founding of the convent of Saint 
Leodegar about the year 735. The village which 
derived its name of Lucerne from the “Lugar,” a 
corruption of Leodegar. When the Swiss republic 
rose, Lucerne joined the confederacy in 1332, and this 
was really the beginning of the history of the village. 
There are several important cities in Switzerland, but 
none is more centrally located, nor holds such a com¬ 
manding position as Lucerne. Berne is the seat of 
the federal government, and Zurich, a center of the 
sciences and of commerce, while Basle boasts of its 
trade and its benevolent institutions, and Geneva of 
its great industries; but Lucerne boasts of her su¬ 
periority over them all in the beauty of its sceneiy. 
Her lofty mountains and fertile valleys make it an 
ideal city of pleasure. Nature has certainly smiled on 
Lucerne, and foreigners who are pleasure-seekers 
never evade a visit to the city. 

There are all kinds of sports in Lucerne, and it has 
become an international character, viz.: The well ar¬ 
ranged Tennis Ground, on the Quay, near the Kur- 
saal, and the “Golf Links” upon the Somnenburg are 
the Scenes of international tournaments and cham- 


144 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


pionships; motorboat races and rowing, boat regattas; 
the international horse races form the pitch of a se¬ 
ries of feasts. The Venetian Nights and Moonshine 
Water parties are enlivening to the summer evenings. 
There are several aviatic performances at the Aero¬ 
nautic Park; fishing is a popular amusement for those 
who delight in fishing. Since I would make a poor 
Baptist, it would not be any pleasure to me to go boat 
riding. 

Sunday, August 28, 1921, Bishop C. H. Phillips 
and wife and this scribe worshiped at the English 
church. We had drawn heavily on our imagination 
and physical strength in attending Catholic cathedrals 
in several other countries. I was extremely anxious 
to hear some real gospel, as my soul longed to be 
filled with a heavenly message with some God in it. 
It is a little tiresome to see men gorgeously dressed 
with garments decked with gold and diamonds bowing 
before images and paintings made by the artistic hand 
of man. 

The pastor preached a splendid sermon. It was an 
Episcopal church, and one may know that the pre¬ 
liminary services were a mile long. However, we all 
joined in the services and really enjoyed it. I was 
surprised to see everybody in the church kneeling when 
it came a time to kneel, and none sat up. This was 
unusual and something out of the ordinary to see the 
whole congregation kneeling. There was fervency of 
the spirit in the service. I understood that there are 
two English churches in Lucerne. No one can enjoy 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


145 


a service when it is conducted in a foreign language, 
and he knows nothing about the language. 

Steamboats, gondolas and airplanes are numerous. 
The airplanes light on the lake and then become boats, 
so a fellow can either fly in the air or sail on the 
water. 

Three steamboat trips will be necessary to take one 
from one end of the lake to the other. This delightful 
trip will take two hours and forty minutes, and from 
the very commencement it affords a delightful scenery, 
the view of Lucerne itself, surrounded by orchards 
and dominated by its ancient towers, being especially 
pleasing. In front of us stretches the Bay of Lucerne 
with handsome villas rising among verdue on both 
sides—Tribschen and Schlosschen Streets on the right, 
and Seeburg and Warlenfluh on the left, and on the 
promontory of the Meggenhorn the imposing Villa 
Meggenhorn; also the little Island Alstadt. 

Monday, August 28, 1921, 9 :30 a. m., Bishop C. H. 
Phillips, Dr. C. H. Phillips, Jr., Mrs. French and 
this scribe took a boat to go to the Alps, a distance of 
ten miles. There were at least five hundred white 
people on board. The lofty mountains with their 
beautiful crest were picturesque, and tae tall trees 
seemingly were hugging the mountain, for fear the 
mountains would disappear. 

As we approached Vitznau-Rigi, our destination, 
it seemed that winter had come. Our boat carried us 
safely to Vitznau-Rigi at 11:30 a. m. Vitznau is a 
small village at the base of the mountain, situated be¬ 
tween two summits of the Rigi, the Dossen and Vitz- 


146 


some interesting sidelights 


nauenerstock. It is indeed a popular health resort in 
spring and autumn; its climate is mild and often 
visited by tourists in summer. 

ViT£nau Rigi Railroad 

After reaching Vitznau-Kaltbal, we had to take 
Vitznau-Rigi Railroad to Rigi-Kuln, the highest point 
on the Alps. The Vitznau-Rigi Railroad is an electric 
car line, with iron and steel crossties, as well as iron 
rails. This is the oldest line on the Alps and carries 
one through the most interesting part of the Alps. 

This railroad was constructed between 1869 and 
1872, and attains an elevation of 4,268 feet above the 
lake, with mean gradient of 19 in 100. It leads 
through chestnut groves and across the romantic 
Schurtobel Bridge to Freiberger Station. The lake is 
quickly left beneath us, the prospect expands, moun¬ 
tains lift their crest around us, and passing the Romiti- 
Felsenton Station we reached Rigi-Kaltbad. This 
village is noted for its terraces and views, and its 
beautiful grounds. Kaltbad is a junction, and where 
the Kaltbad-Scheidegg Railway meet with the Vignau- 
Rigi Railroad. The latter railroad continues its course 
upward and passes through Rigi-Staffel, where we 
get a better observation of the lofty mountains of 
northeastern Switzerland, with its lakes stretching 
northwards as far as the Juna, Black Forest and 
Vosges mountains. 

Before reaching Rigi-Kaltbad Station, we had passed 
several bridges, and some of them were at least two 
hundred and fifty feet high. On crossing a very dan- 



“RIGI KULM” 

Railway and Hotel on the Alps. Lucerne, 
Switzerland; 5,905 Feet High: The Alps. 









148 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


gerous bridge, with my heart in my mouth, I sang that 
old familiar song: 

Why should we moan departed friends, 

And shake at death's alarm; 

’Tis but the voice of Jesus sends 
To call you to his arms. 

Seemingly every strand of hair on my head stood 
on ends, and when I had continued my ascent for 
several hundred yards over some dangerous ravines, 
another old song with that old tune came to me un¬ 
bidden : 

And am I born to die, 

To lay the body down, 

And must my trembling spirit fly 
Unto a world unknown. 

I thought my time had about come, and I had given 
up to the inevitable; I had become submissive to the 
Divine Will. 

There are several beautiful residences on those Al¬ 
pine mountains. I saw several horses and dogs. Since 
the land is not fertile, I did not see how those living 
there could make a living. Doubtless they work some¬ 
where else, but live there for their health. These 
consumptive folks would find the climate and those 
Alpine mountains congenial to their health. They 
certainly would inhale pure air, and their lungs would 
enjoy a fuller vibration. The rarifed air would be 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


149 


a tonic to weak lung folks. It took the electric car 
three hours and thirty minutes from the time we left 
Viznu to reach Rigi-Kuln, the highest peak on the 
Alps, and it is 5,905 feet from Viznu. 

The tourists have reached their summit when they 
get to Rigi-Kuln. They delight in being there either 
at sunrise or sunset, when they can get a panoramic 
view of the three laks tinged with gold and the moun¬ 
tains dyed crimson by the beams of the rising or set¬ 
ting sun. 

Our party spent over a half day there. It seems 
that there are at least three acres of land at Rigi- 
Kuln. The Rigi-Kuln Hotel is a beautiful structure 
and was built at much expense. The Swiss people 
keep all sorts of souvenirs on hand to sell. I bought 
several from them myself. My stay there was enjoy¬ 
able, but this scribe would not like to live there. 

The day was an ideal day, Old Sol seemingly shone 
brighter than ever. When the time for leaving Rigi- 
Kuln had come, there were no tears shed, but really 
my heart was filled with ecstacy and delight. The 
cars took less time to descend the mountain than it 
did to ascend; it came slowly. The wheels have cogs 
to them to prevent them from slipping backwards. 
There are no poles, but the cars are drawn by an 
engine charged with electricity. There was quite a 
number of French tourists on board; a set of jolly 
young folks. They spoke English for a while, and 
then they would speak French. Really the occasion 
with me had its solemnity; I was eager to get in the 
valley once more. 



A Group of St. Bernard Dogs. “Rigi Kulm,” The Alps, Switzerland. 







my European tour 


151 


The trip to Rigi-Kuln was profitable, instructive 
and interesting, I shall never forget. 

While on Rigi-Kuln you could see snow on another 
mountain about four miles away and look like winter, 
and the melted snow was running down the moun¬ 
tains. When we reached Rigi-Kuln, our boat was 
ready to take us to Lucerne, where we left the next 
day for Brussels, Belgium. 

The Lion Monument 

The king before the Revolution always had a guard 
of honor, composed of Swiss yeomen, men of valor, 
who were ready and willing to sacrifice their lives in 
the defense of their country. When the Austrian- 
Prussian army attacked Lucerne September 3, two 
battalions of the Swiss guards were captured and the 
remainder fell in battle by the gunfire of the enemy. 
They were heroic men. For the bravery of those 
noble sons of Swiss, the citizens of Lucerne in 1821 
had a lion sculptured out of a rock, and the lion lying 
down wounded. This colossal monument is 60 feet 
in height. It is an impressive scenery in commemora- 
tion of the heroic dead, men who fell on the battle¬ 
field in the defense of their country. In the shade of 
the tall trees spreads a small sheet of water and be¬ 
hind it rises a perpendicular rock in a recess, occupying 
the midst of which lies the wounded lion, defending 
even in death the charge entrusted to him. Above the 
monument is the simple legend, Hebretiorum fidei ac 
virtuti, together with the names of the fallen officers. 
This monument is open to the public free of charge. 




152 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


The Glacier Garden 

The Glacier affords a unique spectacle to all visi¬ 
tors. In 1872, while digging the foundation of a 
building, the workmen discovered nine potholes of an 
ancient glacier. The largest is 31 feet deep and 27 
feet in diameter. 

Geographical Position oe Lucerne 

It has a latitude of 47°, 3', 21". It has a longitude 
East of Greenwich 8°, 18', 56". The mean height of 
the surface of the lake, 1,430 feet; the highest level of 
the lake after 1846, 1,489 feet. 

Never Saw a Negro 

On one occasion, while Bishop C. H. Phillips and 
myself were sitting on the side of the lake next to the 
depot, quite a number of Swiss children were passing, 
just came off the boats. They came near us and stood 
for the longest, looking and trying to make out what 
sort of beings we were. 

We were quite a show to them, and some had never 
seen a Negro before. I never saw any Negroes living 
in Lucerne at all. The people speak the French lang¬ 
uage there, and a few can speak English. 

While the French is the dominant language of the 
Swiss, the're are certain sections that speak nothing 
but German. The Germans were the early settlers of 
that section, and the inhabitants learned the German 
language, and the business of that country is trans¬ 
acted in the German language, while French is the 
native language. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


153 


Brussels, Belgium 

Tuesday, August 30, 1921, we left for Brussels, 
Belgium, at 9 :30 a. m. We passed through several 
towns and districts that were completely destroyed by 
the Germans. We passed through Luxemberg and 
Metz, two towns in Alsace-Lorraine, and when our 
train reached Metz I got out. There is an under¬ 
ground subway leading to the station. For fifty years 
the Germans owned Alsace-Lorraine, which they took 
from France in the War of 1872. The Germans were 
compelled to evacuate Metz during the World War 
under the gunfire of the Allies, but this retreat was 
stubbornly fought. This is a beautiful city and has a 
large population. 

Under the Wilson League of Nations, Alsace-Lor¬ 
raine was returned to the French, where it will remain 
for centuries. This is a rich country, and the French 
who lived there were compelled to support the German 

The devastation along the railroad of millions of 
dollars worth of valuable property is indescribable; it 
will take years to replace those homes, and there will 
be no replacing of human lives lost. 

Twelve o’clock that night we reached Brussels, the 
capital of Belgium, and where the king lives. When 
the porter called out Brussels, we had begun to pack 
up. We all intended to get off at the first depot. The 
train stopped only a few minutes. I got off first with 
my suitcase, and then Mrs. C. H. Phillips, Sr., and 
Mrs. C. H. Phillips, Jr. Dr. Phillips was to have 
handed me their suitcases out of the window, but 
before it could be done the bell rang and the train 


154 


some: interesting sidelights 


pulled off. So Bishop Phillips and his son, Dr. C. H. 
Phillips, and Mrs. French remained on the train. They 
went to the other depot. This left the two, Mrs. 
Phillips and this scribe, at the depot and none could 
speak Flemish or French. We were satisfied that we 
were in Brussels, but how to get the officers to know 
where we wanted to go was a question that puzzled us. 
Tickets are not taken up on the cars, but at the gate 
when you leave the depot. You must show your 
ticket. 

government, and you cannot get by the police. The 
two Mrs. Phillips had no tickets, their husbands had 
them. The gatekeeper let me out, but not the two 
ladies. I got in an automobile and told the driver to 
carry me to somebody here who could speak English. 
It was late at night, and he carried me to a restaurant 
where I met a young fellow who knew a little about 
English, but not enough for me to tell him what I 
wanted. 

I was afterwards taken to Hotel Grand, where I 
was directed to stop, and the proprietor could speak 
mother English fluently. I related to him my trou¬ 
bles, and told him that I would like to spend the night 
there, that there were two ladies at the depot wanting 
lodging for the night. They had traveled 325 miles 
and did not want to sit up the remainder of the night. 
One of the porters got in the car and went with me to 
the depot. The two Mrs. Phillips were the happiest 
two souls at my return than what I had seen in a long 
time. When I first left, they said, “Dr. Brown, don’t 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


155 


leave us.” I replied, “I will see that you both will be 
cared for.” 

After a little explanation, the gatekeeper permitted 
them to pass, and they were taken to the Grand Hotel. 
The next morning we found the Bishop and his son and 
Mrs French, and we all boarded at the Palace Hotel. 
This is one of the finest hotels in Brussels and well 
located. It was the finest that this scribe had stopped 
in while he was in Europe. 

Every room in that spacious hotel had its private 
bath and laboratory. The furniture in the bathroom 
was white and the room painted white. It was indeed 
attractive. 

Bishop Ainsworth of the Georgia M E.. Church, 
South, stopped there and his guest. We staid there 
several days, but just to sleep cost me $3.69 per night, 
and we had to take our meals at a restaurant. There 
were two large restaurants, and the one I was in 
seated a thousand persons. Most any kind of meal 
would cost from $1.59 to $2.00. 

Pan-African Conference 

Thursday, September 1st, the Pan-African Confer¬ 
ence was in session, and I attended that conference. 
Quite a number of delegates from America were 
present, both women and men. One meeting of the 
conference was held in London in August, and the 
second was held in Brussels, and the third the next 
week was held in Paris. 

The conference in Brussels was presided over by a 
French African, a member of the House of Deputies 
in the French Parliament. He was a full-blooded 


156 


some: interesting sidelights 


Negro, with no trace of white blood in his vein. He 
was educated, a gifted speaker and spoke the French 
language. He made more speeches than any presiding 
officer that this scribe had ever seen before. When a 
motion was made, he never asked, “Are you ready/' 
but just put the question at once. Such procedure in 
America would cause him to be severely censured. It 
would be czarism. Several prominent Frenchmen 
were present and made speeches, one a prominent 
judge. The proceedings were in French. Dr. W. E. 
B. Dubois of New York called the meeting, and his 
secretary was a lady. 

Dr. Dubois and his secretary spoke the French lang¬ 
uage. Bishop C. H. Phillips and his son, Dr. C. H. 
Phillips, Jr., and myself represented the C. M. E. 
Church. Dr. Dubois’ secretary interpreted several 
French addresses in English and translated several 
English addresses into French. 

Bishop John Hurst, D.D., and wife of the A. M. E. 
Church attended the conference. He was called for an 
address, and he delivered it in French. Bishop Hurst 
is a native Frenchman and speaks the language 
fluently. French is his native tongue. There were 
several ladies present who spoke the French language. 

African Congo 

The conference decided to attend the museum of the 
Congos in a body in the afternoon. 

The Purpose of the Pan-African Conference 

Dr. W. E. D. Dubois is the prime mover of the 
conference. It seems that the conference is to arouse 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


157 


France, Belgium, England and the Portugese. Those 
who own colonies in Africa to accord the Africans un¬ 
limited manhood rights, and all civil rights accorded 
to the white races. The French colony has a Negro 
deputy in the French parliament. England does not 
accord the ballot to the Africans. It seems that the 
Negro in America does not fare as well as those in 
the colonies. Their troubles in Africa are not analogus 
to ours in the United States. 

Great Britain has drawn the color line for years, 
in the army and in her government of the darker 
races. The French people are impervious to colors. 
They made Negroes colonels and generals during the 
World War. 

The Museum oe the Congos 

Belgium is the only nation that has erected a 
spacious building and have on exhibition exhibits from 
Africa, showing the development and growth of the 
Africans in her colony. 

It is quite an incentive and is worthy of commenda¬ 
tion. 

There were many exhibits in the building, showing 
the crude state of Africa when the Belgian govern¬ 
ment first took possession of her colony in Africa. 

The growth and development of the Belgian colony 
has been prodigious; it is certainly praiseworthy. The 
exhibition subserves to encourage the Africans to 
greater development. The Africans do not own Africa 
now as they once did. They own only a small portion 
of it. Those civilized nations in Europe all own 
colonies of their own. They have robbed Africa 


158 


some: interesting sidelights 


of her most valuable lands. Instead of protecting 
them and helping them along the road to civilization, 
they have taken their country away from them. 

On to Waterloo 

After having viewed the many exhibits, about four¬ 
teen of us left in a touring car for Waterloo, a dis¬ 
tance of twelve miles in the country. Dr. H. R. But¬ 
ler, his wife and son were among the number. The 
doctor lives in Atlanta, Ga., and enjoys a lucrative 
practice of medicine. He is a graduate of Meharry 
Medical College. He graduated a year after my class 
in 1888. When we had gotten about six miles from 
Brussels, there were several men who were about to 
blow up a German gun that had been buried there by 
the Germans. We had to stop about a mile before we 
reached the place. There were several villages along 
the road of historical fame that afforded a great deal 
of interest to see. I saw the village and dwelling that 
the Duke of W ellington stayed in the night before the 
great battle at Waterloo. 

Tiil Battle: ot Waterloo 

There were two district armies arrayed against each 
other contending for victory. One side was the allies 
consisting of England, Belgium and Germans; on the 
other hand was the French army led by Napoleon I, 
while the Duke of Wellington commanded the Allies. 
Every fiber on either was surcharged with victory. 
In that memorable contest on the 15th of June, 1815, 
the French army, consisting of 122,000 men, with 370 
guns, entered Belgium and immediately divided into 
two wings; the first on the left wing was commanded 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


159 


by Marshal Ney, and was ordered to establish itself 
at Quartre-Bras, where the Nivelles-Namus road 
crosses that of Charleroi-Brussels; the other, on right 
wing, was headed by Marshal Grouchy; this army was 
to attack the Prussian forces then collecting at Som- 
breffe. While Napoleon was a master mind in 
strategy, adroit, fearless and resourceful, and the idol 
of France, he found that the Duke of Wellington was 
a foe worthy of his steel. Wellington possessed an 
iron will, a bulldog tenacity, resourceful and a genius. 
In the first combat on the 16th, Blucher was driven 
from his position after the most severe contest known 
as the Battle of Ligny-on-Fleurus, and was forced 
back to Wavre. While the Allies suffered the tempo¬ 
rary defeat, simultaneously part of the Anglo-Allied 
army under Wellington and Prince of Orange had been 
collected at Quartre-Bras and inflicted a strategical 
defeat to Marshal Ney’s troops. 

The defeat of Marshal Ney prevented him from 
carrying out Napoleon’s orders. In this battle at 
Quartre-Bras, the intrepid Frederick William, duke 
of Brunswick-Oils, lost his life at the head of his 
young black-coated soldiers. On the 17th of June, 
Marshal Grouchy was ordered to follow the defeated 
Prussians with 32,000 men and 96 guns, while Napo¬ 
leon himself, with 72,000 men and 266 guns, attempted 
to intercept Wellington’s retreat upon Genappi. In 
the meanwhile, Wellington had been informed by 
Blucher that the Prussian troops collected at Wavre 
would be put in motion towards Mount Saint Jean 
as soon as possible on the 18th of June. 


160 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


The French army, elated over a temporary victory, 
got in position and was reviewed by Napoleon amidst 
a halo of shouts of “Vive L. Empereur,” and the band 
played “Chant du Depart and Yeillous au Salut de 
l’Empire.” 


Wellington’s forces consisted of the following: 


British_ 

Hanoverians __ 
German Legion 

Belgians _ 

Dutch _ 

Nassauers_ 

Brunswickers _ 


24,000 men 77 guns 
11,300 men 12 guns 
6,700 men 18 guns 
4,000 men 11 guns 
9,400 men 23 guns 

7,200 men_guns 

5,900 men 16 guns 


Grand total_68,600 men 157 guns 


Napoleon gave new impetus and new inspiration to 
the French army when he said: “Forty centuries look 
down upon you from the pyramids of Egypt.” 

Wellington inspired his army by telling them: “Eng¬ 
land expects every one of you to do your duty.” 

I visited the Government Farm, which has been 
often spoken of in history. The allied forces were 
behind the rock walls and were throwing hot shot into 
the French army. The loopholes made in the garden 
walls are there now. The Allies could see the enemy 
while hidden behind the walls for a defense. The old 
church of more than two centuries old is still stand¬ 
ing; it was partly destroyed, and the clock never stop 
running. I saw the well where 350 British soldiers 











MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


161 


hid in and were killed. The orchard is old, but the 
trees had some fruit on them, and several men were 
buried there who fell in that battle. England has 
erected a monument to their memory. The supposi¬ 
tion was that the Crucifix and a very old wooden 
figure of St. Anne with the Holy Virgin and Child 
preserved the chapel. I do not think those Catholic 
symbols had anything to do with the preservation of 
the church. 

The LaHaie Sainte Farm was defended stubbornly 
by the Allies, but Marshal Ney renewed his attack at 
6 :30 p. m., and repulsed the Allies at great sacrifice 
of human lives. Major Baring of the Allied forces, a 
British subject, had received seven bullets in his coat 
tail, but Major Rosewiel, who was second in com¬ 
mand, was killed by French skirmishers. In the first 
attack Lieutenant Vreux of the French Engineers was 
killed. 

After a terrible hand-to-hand fighting in a build¬ 
ing, Major Baring and his Allies had to retreat, and 
his army sustained great loss; 45 officers were killed 
and 129 wounded, many were taken prisoners, and 
the battalion was reduced to 42 men. About 8 p. m. 
the farm was captured by the British and the Allies 
led by the Duke of Wellington succeeded in securing 
the surrender of Napoleon and his army, I saw the 
place where the trench was dug by Wellington, and 
where several thousand French soldiers followed the 
retreating Allies into a trap that was set for them. 

Napoleon’s life was saved by the width of a thread 
at Genappe. He had left the battlefield and was en- 


162 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


tering the village when an avalanche of shot and 
shell fell all around him. He realized that his life was 
in danger. He immediately left his carriage and 
mounted his horse; his carriage contained his coat, his 
sword, etc.; in the lining of his coat the Prussian 
officer found some diamonds which were worth 40,000 
pounds. 

The Battle of Waterloo culminated in victory for 
the Allies and the surrender of Napoleon. Had Napo¬ 
leon been victorious in the awful combat, it would 
have changed European civilization; the French lang¬ 
uage and the French customs would have dominated 
the old world, and finally it would have been a menace 
to American civilization. 

Napoleon was drunk for power, and wanted to ex¬ 
tend the French domain to every zone in Europe. 
Victory after victory had been perched on his banner, 
but he met an inglorious defeat at Waterloo. 

Happily the pendulum of civilization was not 
reversed and the nations of Europe were not com¬ 
pletely annihilated. 

He was exiled and was sent to Geneoa, Italy, where 
he died. The Allies regarded him a menace to Eu¬ 
ropean civilization. He surrendered June 18, 1815. 

The gallant Napoleon possessed excellent traits of 
character, had indomitable courage and knew no Alps 
that was too high for him to climb. As a commanding 
general, the French revered him, honored him and 
trusted him; he believed in France, he trusted them, 
and was anxious to extend the sovereignty of his coun¬ 
try, but Providence had decreed otherwise. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


163 


The Loss oe Human Lives 

The British had 6,940 wounded and missing; Gen¬ 
eral Pictor and Will Ponsonby were killed. The Ger¬ 
man Legions had 1,618 killed, wounded and missing; 
Col. Ompteda and Plat were killed. The Hanoverians 
had 1,658 killed, wounded and missing. The Bruns- 
wickers had 660 killed and wounded. The Dutch and 
Belgians had 2,688 killed and wounded. General Van 
Murlen and Colhart were mortally wounded. There 
was a total of 14,714 killed, wounded and missing. 

The Lion Pyramid 

On the spot of ground where the Prince of Orange, 
lieutenant-general in the British army, was wounded 
trying to check the attacks of the French, the Allies 
have erected a Lion Pyramid in memory of their com¬ 
rades who gave up their lives in defense of their 
country. The women packed dirt on their backs and 
heads to build the monument in honor of their sons, 
husbands and brothers. The pyramid forms an im¬ 
mense cone, and it is 125 feet from the top to the 
base It has a circumference measure of 1,612 feet 
at the base, and is surrounded by 140 cylindrical col¬ 
umns of blue stone, placed within twelve feet fiom 
each other, from center to center. The area of the 
Lion Pyramid will cover five and a half acres of land; 
the pyramid itself contains 1,000,000 cubic feet. 

The pedestal of the lion is composed of a solid mass 
of blue stone 20 feet high and reposes on a column of 
bricks, around which the pyramid was erected. The 
bricks were made on the very spot and the well (south- 





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THE LION PYRAMID, WATERLOO. 
Where Napoleon Was Defeated. Brussels. 







MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


165 


east of the monument), out of use from that time, 
was dug for that purpose. 

The lion was made of cast iron and not of bronze 
of French guns, as it has been generally believed. 
It was cast at the Iron Works of Cockerill, where the 
copy in plaster, due to J. F. Van Geel, was kept for a 
long time. Its measurement is 17 feet long, 14 feet 
10 inches high and weighs 70,000 pounds. The in¬ 
scription on the pedestal is “XVIII June MDCCCXV.” 

This lion monument begun in 1824 and was finished 
two years later, and the lion itself was placed on the 
pedestal October 28, 1826. This monument is colossal 
in size and can be seen from the Plalais de Justice in 
Brussels, eleven miles. There are iron steps, 225, 
which lead from the bottom to the top. The steps are 
nearly perpendicular. 

Several of us ascended the steps and remained at 
the top for several hours. To ascend this flight of 
steps requires much expansion of the lungs. Indeed, 
it was a tiresome job that this scribe would not like to 
try again. 

There are several monuments of stone erected at 
Waterloo by different nations in memory of their 
sainted dead who fell in battle. The Dutch, Belgians, 
Germans, English, the Hanoverians and French have 
erected their own monuments. Waterloo is nothing 
but a small village, with one or two stores and a cafe, 
but many foreigners visit there every year. 

Our party returned to Brussels to spend the night. 
There are quite a number of fine buildings in Brus¬ 
sels. The King’s church is a beautiful structure, and 


16 


some: interesting sidelights 


k is supported by the government. The king’s mansion 
is an immense guadrangular building, formerly occu¬ 
pied by Prince Cementine; is unexcelled by any coun¬ 
try. Brussels did not suffer during the World War 
and none of her buildings were destroyed. The Ger¬ 
man officials lived there and they made Brussels their 
headquarters, but their banks were robbed. On the 
public thoroughfare there is a marble monument of 
Leopold I erected in 1881 by national subscriptions. 
This splendid monument had for its architect, De- 
Curto. Its graceful Gothic spire is 50 metres high. 
The statue is surmounted by a canopy resting on nine 
pillars with allegorical statues of the Belgian pro¬ 
vinces. 

The Parliament House was erected in 1779-1783 by 
the architect, Guin, and was almost rebuilt anew after 
the great fire in 1883. It was greatly damaged by 
the fire. The Belgian Senate and Chamber of Rep¬ 
resentatives have held their meetings there since 1831. 
Visitors are admitted all the year, except during the 
sessions of Parliament, for 10 centimes, 50 centimes 
for one person, 25 centimes on Sunday and holidays. 

It was at Brussels where Edith Cavell, an English 
nurse, was executed by the Germans, not far from the 
Bois de la Cambre. She was executed October 12, 
1915. This excellent woman gave up her life to nurse 
German and Belgian wounded soldiers who fell in 
battle. She possessed excellent traits of character, 
true to the womanly instinct, sympathetic and willingly 
haphazarded her life to relieve suffering humanity. 
Germany hated England and would not heed the pro- 





MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


167 


test coming from other friendly nations. She sank 
into the depth of infamy, despised by the civilized 
world for executing such a noble woman. 

A monument will be erected to her memory in the 
near future. 

I saw several Negroes in Brussels. Goods were 
high and labor cheap. The Belgian francs have the 
same value as the French francs. When leaving Bel¬ 
gium we went to the American Express and had our 
money changed into English pounds and sterlings, as 
we were en route for London. Brussels is a city of 
800,000 inhabitants and a busy city. It is the capital 
of Belgium and its largest metropolis. Many fine 
buildings are there, but no skyscrapers. Street cars 
and automobile busses are the means of transporta¬ 
tion. The king deserted Belgium during the war 
found a comfortable dwelling place away in the 
terior, a safe distance from the German guns. 

Working Dogs 

It was in Brussels where I saw a very large dog 
hitched to a wagon, and the owner was delivering milk 
to his customers. The dog was unusually large. Had 
the owner of the dog lived in the United States, he 
would have been arrested for cruelty to animals. Those 
dogs were trained to pull a wagon like horses. 

The Belgians are a thrifty people; very polite and 
accommodating. There is absolutely no color line 
among them. Your money is what they want and no 
discrimination whatever. 

Having spent three days in Brussels, we left on 
Saturday at 7:45 a. m., September 3, for London to 






Where the Ecumenical Methodist Conference Was Held, Sept. 6, 1921. This Church 

.Seats 10,000 People. London. 














MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


169 


attend the great Eumenical Conference. Our travel 
took us through the territories that were almost com¬ 
pletely destroyed by the Germans. When the train 
had reached Ostend, we were told to change cars. 
Ostend showed visible signs of German visitation. 
Houses demolished and havoc had played its part in 
the city. The sight was awful. 

The boat was waiting to take all passengers across 
the English Channel. The boat was densely crowded, 
and this scribe had the pleasure or displeasure of 
standing up for four hours until we landed. 

This was one of the most unpleasant trip crossing 
the English Channel that I had witnessed while in 
Europe. 

Just a day before we crossed the English Channel, a 
ship was sunk, having made a collision with another 
vessel on account of the dense fog. When the fog is 
heavy, it is dangerous to be on water. 

It was 4:15 p. m. when the boat landed at Dover, 
England. This is a beautiful seaport city, where many 
ships come and go. The Germans crossed the Channel 
several times in airships when they bombarded Lon¬ 
don. The water was as clear as a crystal. 

This was my first time of putting my feet on Eng¬ 
lish soil. I read of England when I was a barefoot 
boy in the public school at Courtland, Ala., but did 
not think that it would ever be my delightful pleas¬ 
ure to walk on English soil and travel over a country 
under the sovereign rule of a king. When I was a 
boy, and long before I was born, Queen Victoria was 
the ruler of England. She has passed to the great 


170 


some: interesting sidelights 


beyond many years ago and her grandson, George V, 
is the sovereign ruler of England. 

On our arrival at Dover, there were two trains wait¬ 
ing to carry passengers to London. Bishop Phillips 
had to have his trunk checked and we separated there. 
I thought he and Mrs. Phillips were on the train with 
me, until I had reached London. They came over on 
another train. I was put in a compartment with two 
young white men from Georgia, one was a soldier in 
the World War. They were very friendly, and we 
chatted pleasantly all the way to London. In com¬ 
pany with us were an Englishman and his daughter; 
the Englishman had lived in New England states. 
Once an Englishman always an Englishman. He 
gave me lots of information respecting London, and 
I certainly welcomed it. There are many beautiful 
cities on the road to London, much sheep raising and 
fine cattle was in evidence. I saw some of the finest 
cattle and sheep that I had ever seen before in my 
life. I can see why woolen goods are so cheap in 
England, but silks are very high. 

At G :30 p. m. the engineer snatched the bell cord, 
and the train porter thundered out “London! Lon¬ 
don! Get ready!" This gave me real genuine pleas¬ 
ure that I am now in an English-speaking country, 
where I can converse with my fellow-man. My train 
stopped at Victoria Station. This station was named 
in honor of Oueen Victoria. 

Taxicab drivers were like bees in a gum, all wanted 
to carry passengers somewhere for the shillings and 
guineas. 


my European tour 


171 


The first thing I did on my arrival was to go to a 
bank and buy some of the English pounds and shillings. 
One must have English money to pay his expenses. 
One dollar in American money would buy five shillings 
and 10 pence. I had familiarized myself with the 
count of the English money, and it was hard to cheat 
me. 

After finding a suitable hotel and engaging a room, 
I went to Central Hall, Westminister, to inquire for 
my mail; it had been more than a month since I heard 
from my family. 

It afforded me inexpressible joy to hear from every 
member of my family. 

What exquisite pleasure that gives one to hear from 
his loved ones at home after being away more than a 
month. The mind is illuminated and consoled when 
he ascertains that all things are well at home and no 
accidents had happened. That old song, “Home, 
Sweet Home,” has not lost its charms, and never will. 
It reminds one of days of yore; it calls up the rum¬ 
bling brooks, the beautiful hills, and many things of 
amusement at home. Saturday night I was indeed 
happy after hearing from home. I wrote several let¬ 
ters and retired to bed after a long ride from Belgium. 
These fast trains in Europe run from 5 Oto 60 miles 
per hour. The English trains carry first, second and 
third class passengers, and all of them are divided 
into compartments; no isles on the train. They are not 
near as conveniently arranged as the trains in Bel¬ 
gium, France or Italy. There was no water at all, and 
when you get off your compartment you are off the 


172 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


train. But these trains run awful fast. But the Eng¬ 
lish have their own way of doing things. 

Great Britain, or British Isles 

We are now under the British kingdom. Eng¬ 
land, Wales, Ireland and Scotland compose the Brit¬ 
ish Isles, while Great Britain controls about five 
hundred other islands. 

The British government controls more countries 
than any other civilized government in the world. It 
has its paws in every continent on the globe, viz.: Eu¬ 
rope, Asia, America and Africa. The sun never sets 
on the British kingdom. Great Britain has more manu¬ 
factories than any nation in the world, except the 
United States; it has more foreign trade, a greater 
number of vessels upon the sea, and more colonies 
than any other nation on earth. India is under the 
crown of England. 

London 

London is the capital of the British kingdom; its 
name probably was derived from the Celtic Llyn (pro¬ 
nounced Lun). When the Romans conquered Llyndyn 
they Latinised the name as Londinium. It grew to be 
a splendid city, one of the nine colonies of Britain, 
but inferior in importance at first to Eboracum (York) 
and Verielamium. There were several important 
military roads which radiated from the city to various 
parts of Britain, and distances were measured from 
the “Lapi Milliairs” in the Forum of Agricola, in the 
heart of the Roman town. The stone, now known 
as the “London Stone,” may still be seen in the wall 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


173 


of St. Swithin’s church, Cannon Street. For many 
years London was governed by Rome. 

Under the regime of the Saxon, London became the 
metropolis of the kingdom of Essex. Mr. Bede, in 
writing of the early part of the eighth century, refers 
to London as the “mart of many nations resorting to 
it by sea and land.” The city was constituted the capital 
of England by Alfred the Great, York and Winchester 
having previously enjoyed that dignity in succession, 
the former under the Romans, the latter under the 
Saxons. In 994, the first bridge across the River 
Thames was built. 

Westminster was a separate town from London. 
In the sixteenth century, and ‘also in the seventeenth 
century, the growth of London was prodigious, so 
rapid had become the increase in population that both 
Queen Elizabeth and James I issued proclamations 
against any further extension of the corporate limits 
of the city. In the Strand, between London and 
Westminster, were many splendid residences of the 
nobility, with fine gardens reaching to the Thames. 
The old names of the streets in the Strand, as Essex, 
Norfolk, Burleigh, Buckingham and Northumberland, 
are still retained. 

The reign of Queen Mary was a calamity; the burn¬ 
ing of heretics in Smithfield, because they stubbornly 
refused to subscribe to the Catholic faith. She was 
known as Bloody Mary. During the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth there was a patriotic rally of the citizens in 
defense of the country against the Armada. 


174 


some: interesting sidelights 


During the Civil War, London sided with the Parlia¬ 
ment, and on January 30, 1649, saw the execution of 
Charles I at White Hall. 

In 1665 London was visited by the great plague, 
which carried off nearly one-fifth of the inhabitants, 
and in the following year the great fire occurred, de¬ 
stroying more than 13,000 houses, St. Paul’s Cathe¬ 
dral, the Royal Exchange, 86 churches and most of 
the guild halls. The damage was estimated at £10,- 
730,500, and the loss by rent of that valuable prop¬ 
erty amounted to £600,000 per annum. It was re¬ 
markable that the conflagration should have begun at 
Pudding Lane and ended at Pye Corner. The lofty 
monument, near London Bridge, marks the spot where 
the fire broke out. The tower, Westminster Abbey 
and Hall, the Temple Church, and about a score of 
city churches were the only buildings of importance 
spared from the conflagration. It is evident that Lon¬ 
don had seen many reverses during its existence be¬ 
fore reaching its zenith as the greatest metropolis in 
the world. These adversities, while very discourag¬ 
ing, did not have any deterrent effect on its ambitious 
citizenry. With inflexible courage, with a tenacious 
purpose, the Londonites were determined to rise. Her 
people were patriotic, true to the instinct of English¬ 
men and moved steadily onward. 

In 1716 every householder was ordered to hang a 
lamp-light before his door from 6 in the evening until 
11 o’clock. Gas was first used to light the city in 
1807. The Gordon Riot occurred in 1780 when New¬ 
gate and other prisoners were fired and many pris- 



MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


175 


oners released, stirring events supplied a background 
to Dicken’s Barmby Ridge. During the latter part of 
the eighteenth century, some of the finest buildings 
in London were erected, such as the Somerset Home, 
the Bank, the Mansion House and the Horse Guards. 
But London, as it is known today, was created during 
the Victorian Age, i.e., this was the age when Queen 
Victoria ascended the throne and held the imperial 
sway over the British Empire for nearly seventy years. 

The marvelous growth of the metropolis, the for¬ 
mation of new streets, and making some wider; the 
constructing of Kingsway, and the widening of the 
Strand and Fleet Streets and Queen Victoria Street 
certainly added beauty to the city. 

The sanitary regulation is superb and many have 
come to the conclusion that London is both one of 
the finest and one of the healthiest cities in the world. 
The mortality of London is less than cities of 200,000 
inhabitants. It is said to be more healthy than Paris, 
New York, or*Rome; only Brussels and Amsterdam 
can compare with it as regards the rate of mortality. 

London played a conspicuous part in the great world 
drama in 1914-1918. When hostilities broke out, the 
young men, the very flower of England, came from 
offices and factories to the recruiting stations to sac¬ 
rifice their lives on the altar of their country in de¬ 
fense of democracy. It was a supreme sacrifice. These 
young men were inmbued with the highest patriotic 
motives; they saw that their country was in peril. 
Those gallant young men did their bit; they shed 
their hearts blood, and thousands fell on the battle- 


176 


some: interesting sidelights 


field; thousands returned home with one leg, one arm, 
one eye and some with no legs nor arms, but with a 
complacency that thrilled every breast, that they gave 
up their lives for a righteous cause. Retrospect the 
ages of antiquity, whether modern or mediaeval, and 
there has never been such a war among civilized na¬ 
tions in any epochal age. The places of these young 
men were taken by the young women. They con¬ 
tributed immensely to the cause of their country; 
many of those places filled by the women were hazard- 
uous, and much privation was necessary; but they 
endured it bravely and helped England to win the 
victory. 

From a financial point of view, London’s contribu¬ 
tion to the war was of outstanding importance, and 
by the earnest and successive appeals by the Chan¬ 
cellor of the Exechequer invariably met with an im¬ 
mediate response. 

The Port of London became of tremendous value 
in the great task of feeding the nations under the most 
trying circumstances, because of the enemy’s ruthless 
submarine warfare. This modern weapon wrought 
havoc among the Allies, as it paralyzed- commerce, and 
foodstuff and clothing had a difficult task of trans¬ 
portation. But London met the issue and did her part 
to win the war for humanity. London sustained great 
loss of property and human lives when she was bombed 
from Zeppelins and aeroplanes. According to official 
statement of the war, 800 bombs were dropped in all, 
and 522 persons were killed and three times that many 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 177 

were wounded. It is said that the damage to the prop¬ 
erty amounted to one million and a half pounds. 

Westminster Bridge 

One of the widest and most substantial bridges in 
Europe is the Westminster Bridge; it consists of seven 
low sentimental iron arches, supported on granite 
piers. It is said the central arch has a span of 120 
feet; the others of 114 feet. It is 1,160 feet long and 
85 feet wide, the footways being each 15 feet across. 
It is certainly a colossal structure and one of the finest 
piece of mechanism that was ever conceived by the 
fertile brain of man. This is one of the important 
thoroughfares of London. The bridge was erected in 
1862, and cost a quarter of a million pounds. The® 
House of Parliament, the legislative body of the Brit¬ 
ish Empire, is near Westminster Bridge. All the 
colonies and countries belonging to the empire have 
their general laws made by the British Parliament. 
There are two houses, viz.: the House of Commons 
and the House of Lords. 

The old building, Stephen’s Chapel, was built by 
Edward III; was occupied by the House of Com¬ 
mons when it was destroyed by fire in 1834. The 
present building had its first stones laid in 1840, but 
was not completed until 1857. 

The House of Lords was used for the first time on 
April 15, 1847. The edifice is Gothic in style and 
occupies an area of eight acres of land. It contains 
11 courts or quadrangles, and cost 3,000,000 pounds. 
The principal facade overlooking the river is 940 feet 
in length. 


178 


some: interesting sidelights 


Clock Tower 

The famous Clock Tower overlooking Westminster 
Bridge is 316 feet high and 40 feet square. The clock 
has four dials, each 22 J4 feet in diameter; was con¬ 
structed under the direction of the late Lord Ogrim- 
thorpe. 

It is unsurpassed as a timekeeper by any in the 
world. The minute hands are 14 feet long, the hour 
hands 9 feet; the figures are two feet long, and the 
minutes space is one foot square. The hours are 
struck on the famous Big Ben, which was named in 
honor of Sir Benjamin Hall, the first commissioner 
of works at the time the bell was cast. This clock 
^weighs 13 j / 2 tons, and in calm weather its resonant 
note may be heard over the greater part of London. 

The: Tower 

To enter this famous tower, tickets must be pur¬ 
chased at the gate. The Tower is very significant and 
served for three specific purposes; first, as a fortress; 
second, as a palace; third, as a prison. Many foreign 
rulers frequently domiciled in this Tower. Four for¬ 
eign kings were detained here, viz.: King John the 
Good of France, after his overthrow by the Black 
Prince at Poitiers; and three Scot Kings, Baliol, 
David II after the battle of Neville’s Cross, and James 
I of Scotland. This Tower is the repository of the 
crown jewels; the sceptres, swords, crown, etc., are 
all labelled and can be easily seen. The Imperial State 
Crown of King George V, when he ascended the 
throne, is there. The crown contains about 3200 dia¬ 
monds and pearls, and weighs two and a half pounds. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


179 


It is surmounted by a diamond Maltese Cross, beneath 
which is placed one of the famous “Stars of Africa,” 
presented to King Edward by the Transvaal in 190&. 
This diamond is oblong in shape and weighs 309 3-16 
carats, and can be detached when desired and worn 
by the queen as a brooch and pendant. The second 
star is larger and weighs 516 1-2 carats. It is said to 
be the largest diamond in the world. The Imperial 
Crown worn by his Majesty as King-Emperor at 
Delhi in December, 1911; also the State Crown worn 
by Queen Mary at Coronation, and the orb, anointing 
spoon, state sword, and other Coronation regalia. The 
costume and decoration of the Queen are superb, and 
too beautiful to describe. These imperial costumes cost 
several millions of dollars. These are kept in the 
Tower for public exhibition. James I and Charles II 
were crowned in the Tower. 

The Tower as a Prison 

Saint Thomas Tower has had many noted criminals 
to stay there. I saw the old chopping block and the ax 
used in the execution of prisoners. These were days 
of barbarity when human life was not held in high 
esteem. There are many touching memories that pre¬ 
sent themselves to visitors when they read the history. 
It was in this tower where the young King Edwards 
and his brother, the Duke of York, were murdered 
by their uncle, Richard III, to make himself the king 
of England. He was not in line for the ascension, but 
he knew by killing these two boys he would become 
king. 


180 


SOME interesting SIDELIGHTS 


The Bloody Tower ,as it was often called, had 
become famous. Among the noted prisoners were 
Princess Elizabeth, who afterwards became queen of 
England; Thomas More, Annie Boleyn, Lady Jane 
Grey, and the Duke of Mormouth. Walter Raleigh 
was imprisoned in this Tower twelve years, and it was 
in this Tower where this noted prisoner wrote his 
History of the World. Bishops Cranner and Ridley 
were confined in this prison under Queen Mary, or 
Bloody Mary, and were taken out and carried to Ox¬ 
ford, England, with Latimer and burned alive. Queen 
Mary had them burned to death because they were 
Protestants and she was a Catholic. It was in this 
Tower where Lady Jane Grey prayed the night before 
she was executed. She saw her husband led out to 
slaughter from Beauchamp Tower, and his headless 
body brought to the Chapel, while the scaffold was 
being prepared for her own death. It was in this 
Tower where the King’s Council met, and Richard III 
said to Lord Hastings: "Dost thou answer me with 
an ‘If?’ By St. George, I will not dine until thy head 
is cut off.” Lord Hastings was beheaded in 1483, 
Annie Bolyn in 1536, Catherine Howard in 1542 and 
Viscountess Rochford in 1542. All of them were be¬ 
headed with an ax, except Annie Bolyn, who was be¬ 
headed with a sword. 

Annie Bolyn was the second wife of Henry VIII. 
He first married Catherine Arragon, his brother, 
Arthur’s, wife. Henry VIII was fascinating, ar¬ 
rogant and fond of women. He became infatuated 
with Annie Bolyn and had his marriage to Catherine 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


181 


Arragon declared illegal by the courts. After several 
years, he accused her of infidelity and had her be¬ 
headed. He had six legal wives. Catherine Howard 
was his fifth wife, and he had her beheaded. Henry 
VIII was cruel and a tyrant to the wealthy people of 
his kingdom. Queen Mary was his daughter by Cath¬ 
erine Arragon. She was known as Bloody Mary, 
when she ascended the throne. She inherited the qual¬ 
ities of her father, and was imimical to the Protestant 
church. There are several persons going to the same 
building. 

Reeics oe Arms 

There were many exhibits in the room where the 
men dressed in their uniforms, with a helmet of silver 
on their head, with breastplate of silver, etc. They 
had a complete armor; nothing visible except the eyes. 
Henry VIII had on a full uniform which weighed 
from seven to twelve pounds. Some of the armors 
were more than five hundred years old. They are 
kept as relics of the past. They are kept polished and 
show very little corrosion at all. 

Buckingham Pagace 

The palace derives its name from a mansion erected 
by John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, in 1703, and 
purchased by George III some sixty years afterwards, 
when his family had outgrown St. James. 

His son, George IV, ordered Architect Nash to re¬ 
model it, but it was not used much until 1837. Queen 
Victoria ascended the throne and made choice of it 
for her home, and when Queen Victoria died, her 
son, King Edwards VII, ascended the throne, and it 


182 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


was his residence. The king was born in the palace 
on the 9th of November, 1841, and died there May 6, 
1910. 

The addition of a wing to the palace in 1847 formed 
an extensive quadrangle, the east front, facing the 
park, being 360 feet long. The public is not permitted 
to visit this palace. The gardens and lakes at the 
rear of the palace cover an area of 40 acres. The 
palace is a massive structure, artistically built and 
magnificent. Right in front of the palace is the monu¬ 
ment to Queen Victoria. 

Queen Victoria Monument 

This monument is in front of Buckingham Palace 
and was designed by Sir Thomas Brooks, and was 
unveiled by His Majesty on the 16th of May, 1911. 
The height of the monument is 82 feet, and it stands 
on a plateau having a diameter of 104 feet. The cen¬ 
tral figure of the Queen is 18 feet high and is carved 
from one solid block of marble, and has to the left 
and right groups representing Justice and Truth, while 
facing the palace is a group symbolic of Motherhood. 
It is said that 2300 tons of the finest Carrara marble 
were in the construction of this massive pedestal, a 
lasting tribute of deserving respect to the memory of 
the noblest woman of her predecessors who reigned 
over the British Empire. The architect has done his 
work well. 

There is a semi-circular colounded screen, having a 
radius of about 100 feet, encloses the Queen’s garden, 
in which the statue stands, and around which traffic 
entering from Constitution Hill and Buckingham Gate 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


183 


circulates. This superb feminine statue is the finest 
that this scribe has ever seen. Visitors are prohibited 
from standing on the base of the monument. 

Crystal Palace 

In company with Prof. G. C. Goodman of Holly 
Springs, Miss., and Prof. G. F. Porter of Jackson, 
Tenn., I went to Crystal Palace. The distance to the 
palace is about eight miles. It consists of a central 
hall, or nave, over 1600 feet long, with aisles and 
central and south transcepts. The towers at either 
end are 282 feet high. The north tower may be 
ascended by means of lift or staircase. In the central 
transcept is the great orchestra, which on the occasion 
of great musical festivities accommodates a chorus of 
5000 persons. The organ has 4,384 pipes. The nu¬ 
merous courts, illustrating the architecture of all ages 
and countries, are well worth seeing. In summer 
many festivals and large gatherings have their meet¬ 
ings there, and in winter exhibitions and annual shows 
are held there. The main floor is occupied by the 
Imperial War Museum. All kinds of war imple¬ 
ments were on exhibition, those used several cen¬ 
turies ago and the latest instruments invented for use 
in the World War. There were guns of every con¬ 
ceivable description, and some guns recently invented 
were never used. We spent a delightful day there 
sightseeing. 

Hyde Park 

Hyde Park has an area of 361 acres of land, and is 
joined on the west by Kensington Garden with 275 
acres. These are the largest and finest parks in Lon- 


184 


some: interesting sidexights 


don. Prior to the Dissolution, the park formed part 
of the Manor of Hyde, and was the property of the 
Abbey of Westminster. During the reign of Henry 
YIII, it was converted into a deer park, and under 
the Stuarts it was used for horse racing. When I 
went there on Sunday evening, it seems that there 
were 25,000 people there, some were preaching, some 
singing, and several politicians were denouncing King 
George V. I enjoyed some of the preaching that I 
heard. All races and all nationalities crowd the park 
every Sunday, and all sorts of propaganda you will 
hear. There were many beautiful flowers to be seen 
along the road. 

For a pleasure walk, I know no place superior to 
Hyde Park. 

My First Sunday in London 

On Sunday, September 4, I decided to worship at 
Central Hall, Westminster. I went alone to this 
church. It seems that there were more than two 
thousand persons present at the 11 o’clock services to 
hear Dr. D. L. Young, the pastor. He preached a 
great sermon. Dr. Young is very tall; has a com¬ 
manding appearance, a clear voice and is eloquent. 
Really he is a magnet in the pulpit. He built Central 
Hall and had pastored it seven years. After services 
I came across Bishop D. C. Cleaves, D.D., Dr. G. C. 
Long of Washington, N. C., Prof. D. W. Potts of 
Memphis, Tenn. I felt somewhat at home when I 
met them. These were the first persons I had seen 
from the United States in two months. A program 
was given every one who worshiped there for each 










186 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


service. The night services began at 7 p. m. I thought 
I would be in time to get a seat when I got there at 
the time designated, but the main floor and every seat 
in the gallery were taken up. The gallery extends 
from the pulpit. This spacious building will seat 
10,000 people, and is crowded, so I was informed, 
every Sunday. Dr. Young preached another able ser¬ 
mon; he was humorous. There were at least twenty- 
five voices in the choir. 

The platform is unusually large where the speaker 
stands, and the singing was beautiful. I sat on the 
steps at night. But I said to my friends that I must 
hear Dr. Young. 

The site for this church cost the Wesleyan Meth¬ 
odist £34,082, or $1,636,703.60. It is a corner lot; 
it has a bank in one corner, several stores under it. 
On the second floor are the church and book house 
of the Wesleyan Methodists. 

The Wesleyan Methodists gave £242,206 to this 
church out of its Twentieth Century Fund. This 
spacious building, built on modern style, with all nec¬ 
essary conveniences, has cost the Wesleyan Methodists 
more than two million dollars. It is the largest church 
in London, and carries the largest congregation. The 
doors of the church are not open on Sunday nights 
before 6 :30 p. m., and long before that time an im¬ 
mense crowd of people, four deep a block on each side 
of the church standing ready and waiting for the 
doors to swing open and let this hungry crowd be fed 
from God’s Word. 








188 


some; interesting sidelights 


They crowd this church like the American people 
crowd the theatres. I have never witnessed such a 
sight in my life. The sun is high at 6:30 p. m. in 
Europe, but that is the time for the night service. 

Dr. Young prayed two prayers before preaching. 
But the second prayer was very long, usually 15 min¬ 
utes. The collection was taken up after the sermon 
by passing the basket. I could not keep up with the 
English tunes. They sang the same songs we sing 
but with different tunes. Somehow the English tunes 
are not fiery and have not that spirit in them that often 
fires the hearts of the people. But, as for my part, 
give me the old American tune that stirs the inmost 
recesses of the soul. I admired the congregational 
singing, and not depend on the choir to do all the 
singing. The English people enter heartily into the 
services. The acoustics are almost perfect. 

Spurgeon’s Tabernacle 

On Sunday at 11 o’clock a. m., September 11, 1921, 
Prof. G. F. Porter, Jackson, Tenn.; Prof. G. S. Good¬ 
man, Holly Springs, Miss.; Dr. G. L. Ward, Milledge- 
ville, Ga.; Dr. N. L. Smith, St. Louis, Mo.; Dr. J. W. 
Walker, Augusta, Ga., and Bishop C. IT. Phillips and 
wife worshiped at Spurgeon’s Tabernacle. This 
church was built by Dr. Charles Spurgeon, one of the 
greatest Baptist preachers of his day, among the 
poorer Class of people. After the death of Dr. Spur¬ 
geon, this church was burned; but his son, having 
been called to the pastorate of this church, rebuilt it. 
This is the first church that I had seen with two 
galleries to it, and it will seat 5000 people. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


189 


There are many pews owned by individuals. It 
was some time before we could get a free seat. We 
first got two seats, but had to be removed. Finally 
we got a free seat. It is rather annoying when a fel¬ 
low has to give up a comfortable seat because some 
had paid the price for it by the year. 

The pastor stood on the second gallery to deliver 
his sermon. He was eloquent. The sermon was 
logical and instructive. The Baptist songbooks con¬ 
tained many songs written by John Wesley, Charles 
Wesley and Isaac Watts. The pastor had sung one 
of the longest songs I ever heard, and prayed twenty- 
jive minutes. A fellow who is afflicted with rheu¬ 
matic pains, I doubt if it is the wisest thing to do 
to kneel when he goes to church in London. The 
prayer was so long until some of our party took a 
nap of sleep. The sermon was only 30 minutes long. 
The choir was composed of 60 children from the 
orphanage. When Dr. Spurgeon wa-s pastor of this 
church, he preached to the masses, and not the classes. 
He was the foremost Baptist preacher in Europe and 
I believe in the world. He certainly had a large fol¬ 
lowing. 

Ecumenical ConeerEnce 

Tuesday, September 6, 1921, the fifth session of 
the Ecumenical Methodist Conference had its formal 
opening in Wesley’s Chapel, City Road, London, at 6 
p. m. There were 550 delegates present representing 
27 branches of Methodists from every zone of the 
world. It was indeed a large crowd of followers of 
Tohn Wesley to assemble in the same church that he 















MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


191 


preached in for fifty years, and in thirty-five feet 
where sleeps the body of the sainted Wesley. Such a 
gathering was unique and pathetic. I could but weep 
while the choir was singing those old Weslyan songs. 
Rev. J. Albert Sharp, president of the Wesleyan Meth¬ 
odist Conference, presided. Dr. Sharp delivered a 
masterly address, brimful of information and very 
interesting. After the timely address delivered by 
Dr. Sharpe, he introduced Rev. S. P. Rose, D.D., pro¬ 
fessor of Wesleyan College, Montreal Methodist 
Church of Canada, who preached the opening sermon. 
It was an excellent sermon and he held his vast audi¬ 
ence with rapt attention. He was clear in diction, 
sound in doctrine, and forceful. 

Rev. W. W. Workman, president, Training Col¬ 
lege, Horseferry Road, S. W. I., was elected secretary. 
Mr. William R. Welch, Dr. H. K. Carroll of the M. E. 
Church and Mr. Oscar W. Adams of the A. M. E. 
Zion Church were elected assistant secretaries. 

The remaining sessions were held in Central Hall, 
Westminster. There were three sessions held each 
day; Wednesday 9:45 a. m. the Lord’s Supper was 
administered, the doors were closed until 10 a. m. 
This session was for delegates only. The public ses¬ 
sion began at 11 a. m.; Bishop John L. Nelson, L.D.D., 
M. E. Church, presided. After the rules were adopted, 
the following addresses were delivered: 

Address to His Majesty the King, by Senator James 
B. Mac Murray, M. E. Church. 

Address to the President of the United States of 


192 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


America, by Sir William Middlebrooks, Wesleyan 
Methodist Church. 

The topic discussed during that session: 

Essay, Ten Years’ Retrospect of Methodist Work, 
by Rev. Frederick L. Wiseman, Wesleyan Methodist 
Church; Steps Taken Toward Further Methodist 
Union, by Mr. H. Lloyd Snape, United Methodist 
Church. 

Second address, Rev. William Younger, Primitive 
Methodist Church. 

The second session convened promptly at 2 :45 p. m.; 
Rev. W. Treffry of the United Methodist Church 
presided. 

Essay, Ten Years’ Retrospect of Methodist Work in 
the Western Section, by Bishop F. D. Fleet, L.L.D., 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Address by Rev. C. B. Spencer, D.D., Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Third address, Bishop Kogoro 
Usaki, Japan Methodist Church. 

The third session began at 7 :15 p. m. Sir Robert 
W. Perks Bart, Wesleyan Methodist Church, pre¬ 
sided. Addresses of welcome were delivered by Rev. 
J. Alfred Sharpe, president of the Wesleyan Meth¬ 
odist Church; J. Gray, J.P., Primitive Methodist 
Church. Response by Rev. Wallace MacMullen, D.D., 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and Judge Samuel B. 
Adams, Methodist Episcopal Church, South; also Rev. 
Rev. J. W. Graham, D.D., Methodist Church of 
Canada, and C. H. Phillips, Jr., M.D., Colored Meth¬ 
odist Episcopal Church. 

















194 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


Dr. Phillips’ response was well taken. He is an 
orator and made quite a hit. The Negro constituents 
were well represented by him. Bishop N. C. Cleaves, 
D.D., Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, was on 
the program, and he spoke on Christianity and Racial 
Antagonism. His address was well delivered and was 
given a hearty applause. Prof. G. F. Porter of the 
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church spoke on Drifts 
To and From the Church. His address was a clear 
statement of facts, interesting and instructive, and 
was well taken. The Colored Methodist Episcopal 
Church was well represented on the program. 

Bishop L. W. Kyles, D.D., of the A. M. F. Zion 
Church, presided at one session; also Bishop C. S. 
Smith, D.D., of the A. M. F. Church. They presided 
with dignity and measured up to the occasion. 

A reception was given the delegates, and Bishop 
C. H. Phillips, D.D., was called on to respond. The 
Bishop made a hit ,as he usually does in any great 
gathering. 

There were many important subjects discussed dur¬ 
ing the ten days, and we all left with a broader vision, 
a clearer insight of the greater responsibility of the 
Methodist followers to help save mankind. The meet¬ 
ing was an inspiration. 

The delegates of the Colored M. F. Church: Bishop 
C. H. Phillips, D.D., Bishop N. C. Cleaves, D.D., Rev. 
J. A. Walker, D.D., Rev. R. T. Brown, D.D., M.D., 
Rev. G. L. Ward, D.D., Rev. G. C. Long, D.D., Rev. 
N. L. Smith, D.D., C. H. Phillips, Jr., M.D., Prof. 
G. F. Porter, B.S., Prof. D. W. Potts, A.M. 

















196 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


Wesley's Chapel 

Mr. John Wesley built and pastored Wesley Chapel 
for fifty years. It is a two-story brick church, with a 
gallery to it extending from the pulpit to the door, 
and will seat about 800 people. The pulpit is at the 
rear end, and is about four feet square, a kind of a 
box, just large enough to hold one person. I went 
into this pulpit and thanked God for the Methodist 
Church and for His continual blessings upon it. There 
is an annex to the church where Mr. Wesley held his 
5 o’clock prayer meetings in the morning with those 
who assembled. This annex for assembling the peo¬ 
ple was on the first floor, and behind the annex was 
Mr. Wesley’s study. In it is a five-foot table and 
several chairs he used. It was in the office where 
those who had business called to see him. 

John Wesley first organized the Methodist church 
in a foundry. When the old foundry was wrecked 
and unfit for service, then Mr. Wesley built City 
Road Chapel, or Wesley’s Chapel. Mr. Wesley was 
handicapped by want of money to finance his scheme. 
He had only twenty-six shillings on hand when he 
started to build Wesley Chapel, which was to cost 
£700. 

There were no wealthy people in his congregation. 
He had withdrawn from the established church in 
England, a church with its stiff ritualistic services and 
formalities, to establish a church that the people would 
have an acquaintance with the Spirit of God. He was 
cognizant that his task would be fraught with great 
peril and hardship, and he would face an avalanche 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


19? 


of criticisms; but he was willing to make the sacrifice. 

Mr. Wesley bought it for £115 and the foundry 
was wrecked in 1716 by a terrific explosion, and for 
twenty-five years it lay in ruins. After the foundry 
was repaired and fixed up for services, it cost Mr. 
Wesley £800. This was the first piece of property 
the Methodists had purchased. He preached his first 
sermon in the repaired foundry November 11, 1759. 
He said: “I preached at eight to five or six thousands 
on the spirit of bondage and the spirit of adoption, 
and at five in the evening to seven or eight thousands 
in the place which had been the King’s Foundry for a 
cannon.” The foundry seated about 1500 people and 
the band room adjoining it about 300. It was a cus¬ 
tom to seat men and women separately in church; 
the women occupied the front gallery and the seats 
under it, while the men occupied the side and side 
galleries. The classes met in the bandroom and a 
school in the north end, while the other was used for a 
book room. The book room stands on the same spot 
as it did when Wesley founded it in 1739. 

Mr. Wesley had a house at the foundry, and his 
first conference was held there on June 25, 1744. 
There were ten men in attendance, six of whom were 
clergymen, and four Methodist preachers. 

For fifty years the foundry was the home and 
the center of Methodism. This was the nucleus of 
the Methodist denomination, the very birthplace of 
the great church. It did not have its beginning in a 
palace richly decorated and furnished with costly and 
expensive furniture, but in an old dilapidated foundry 



Interior of Wesley’s Chapel. London, England. 































MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


199 


which was out of use. Sixteen other conferences 
were held there. Mr. Wesley established a dispensary 
there to provide medicine for the poor, and in his 
foundry school he had more than sixty children. 

Within these walls of the Foundry both Charles 
and John Wesley held services. In November, 1740, 
Charles Wesley administered the sacrament to a thou¬ 
sand communicants, and the chapel was often filled 
for services at 5 o’clock in the morning. 

Mr. Wesley first leased the foundry for a number 
of years and the least was running out and the foundry 
was falling to pieces. In March, 1775, Mr. Wesley 
told his brother, Charles, that he was coming to Lon¬ 
don on Friday “to talk to the committee about build- 
a new foundry.” He secured from the corporation 
of London a site about two hundred yards from the 
foundry, and secured a lease for fifty-nine years, and 
on Friday, August 2, 1776, the first subscription to¬ 
wards building a new chapel was taken up. Mr. 
Wesley said: “At the end of the two following meet¬ 
ings, a thousand pounds were cheerfully subscribed.” 
Wesley made a strong appeal to the provincial so¬ 
cieties to help the parent society. He realized that 
to purchase this very valuable piece of property would 
cost him a great deal. He says: “I must, therefore, 
beg the assistance of all our brethren. Now help the 
parent society, which has helped others for so many 
years so willingly and largely. Now help me, who 
account this as a kindness done to myself; perhaps 
the last of this sort which I shall ask of you. Sub- 


200 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


scribe what you can, to be paid either now or at Con¬ 
ference, or at a Lady Day next. 

“I am your affectionate brother, 

“JOHN WESLEY.” 

Mr. Wesley traveled over the country and made 
strong appeals for financial assistance. He had leased 
the old foundry and was wanted to build a new 
church. On April 21, 1777, he succeeded in laying 
the foundation stone of Wesley Chapel; the day was 
unpleasant and several thousand people could not at¬ 
tend, but he laid the cornerstone anyway. However, 
a large crowd gathered to witness the ceremony. 

Upon this was a plate of brass on which was en¬ 
graved these words: “This was laid by Mr. John Wes¬ 
ley on April 21, 1777.” Mr. Wesley preached from 
this text, Numbers 22-23: “According to this times 
it shall be said what hath God wrought.” The Meth¬ 
odists were courageous and largely supported Mr. 
Wesley in his plans of building the new Wesley’s 
Chapel. They certainly did heroic work in facing the 
storm of opposition. 

Their purpose was approved by God and nothing 
could discourage them. The new chapel was opened 
November 1 , 1778, on Sunday. A large concourse of 
people gathered to witness the opening services. Mr. 
Wesley said of the chapel: “It is perfectly neat, but 
not fine and contains far more people than the foun¬ 
dry.” The Methodist Church founded by Mr. Wesley 
is a living flame of fire that stirred London and 
England from center to circumference. This Wesley 
Chapel was built in City Road street, but it was justly 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


201 


called the Cathedral of Methodism, or the Mecca of 
Methodism, or the Westminster Abbey of London. 
The Methodists were jubilant over their achievement. 
They wrought well. There has been no material 
changes in the church since it was built. The annex 
was partially destroyed, but has been rebuilt. The roof 
has been raised four feet to give the chapel a better 
appearance. 

The beautiful mahogany pulpit that was given to 
Mr. Wesley still stands, the painting still remains. 
The walls and the front of the gallery, with doves 
ringed round by serpents, are just as Wesley left them, 
except for the oval front of the end gallery, which 
was put in 1800. The stained glass windows in the 
chancel, and the one on the left, were the gift of the 
Primitive Methodist Church, the United Methodist 
Church, the Wesley Reform and the Methodist New 
Connection. The beautiful stained glass window on 
the right of the chancel was the gift of the American 
Methodist Episcopal Church as a memorial to Bishop 
Simpson of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There 
have been two windows recently added which gives 
the chapel a better appearance; one in memory of Wil¬ 
liam Arthur, and the other in memory of Hugh Price 
Hughes. The beautiful Masonic window was given 
by Methodist Freemasons and was unveiled on the 
4th of May, 1917, by Sir Horace Marshall, the then 
Lord Mayor of London. Dr. Hughes was once the 
president of the conference and was a conspicuous 
character in English Methodism. 



JOHN WESLEY 

The Father of Methodism. Was Born June 17, 
1703, and Died February 25, 1791. 




MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


203 


There were quite a number of memorial tablets in 
the chapel, but I shall only mention a few of them. 
There is a bust of Dr. Johnson, Dr. Morley Punshon, 
Dr. Gervase Smith, Dr. W. F. Moulton, and James 
Calvet. There is a tablet in honor of Dr. Thomas 
Cooke, the man Mr. Wesley sent to America to ordain 
some general superintendents, and Dr. Adam Clark, 
who was president of the conference; a tablet to Dr. 
Waddy, a gift of Judge Waddy, consisting of the 
granite pillars on each side of the chancel; a life- 
sized bust of Dr. Newton, one of the greatest of 
Methodist evangelical preachers. A brass bust to Ed¬ 
ward Allen, a personal friend of Mr. Wesley; a mem¬ 
orial of Jacob Jones, a member of Wesley Chapel for 
forty years, who married Sarah Tooth, the daughter 
of the builder of Wesley Chapel; a tablet to Dr. James 
Hamilton, a local preacher for more than sixty years, 
who died in 1827; a tablet to Lady Mary Fitzgerald, 
the friend of Mr. Wesley, who was buried in 1815; one 
to Lancelot Haslope, who was for many years the 
treasurer of the Missionary Society; Rev. Robert 
Young, president of the conference in 1856; one to 
Mrs. Annie Butterworth and Joseph Butterworth, the 
brother-in-law of Adam Clarke. There is a tablet of 
medallion bust of Rev. John Farrar, twice president 
of the conference, and one to the memory of Rev. 
Wallace McMullen, D.D., for fifty years a Wesleyan 
minister in Ireland. 

Mr. John Wesley's Residence 
The residence of Mr. Wesley is in one corner of 
the lot. This is a three-story brick building, including 


204 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


the basement. It is a very narrow building, and you 
have to pay to go through it. The building is old 
and was erected over 150 years ago. We went through 
the entire building. Charles Wesley frequently visited 
his brother and wrote many of his hymns there. The 
rooms of the residence contain many Wesley relics, 
and the whole building is converted into a museum. 
As you ascend the stairway, there is a clock which 
was once the property of John Wesley’s grandfather. 
The clock is about seven feet high and is still running, 
keeping time. I was told that sometimes it gets a 
half an hour behind time. This clock is nearly two 
hundred years old and served Mr. Wesley during his 
lifetime, and is yet telling the people the time of day. 
His mahogany bookcast, portraits of his mother, his 
grandfather, and several of himself; there is his study, 
chair and candlestick, his conference chair, his teapot 
given to him by Joseph Wedge wood, Charles Wesley’s 
hymn book with six hymns in his own handwriting, 
an old lovefeast cup used by the early Methodist, a 
needle-case worked by Mrs. Susanna Wesley, the 
mother of John and Charles Wesley; the pen used 
by Wesley on his deathbed, etc., and the parchments 
given to Dr. Thomas Coke to go to America and 
ordain Asbury General Superintendent. This is in 
Mr. Wesley’s own handwriting. His library with a 
collection of books is there. It was most a pathetic 
scene when I stood in the little room where Mr. Wes¬ 
ley spent his last days on earth. It is a hallowed 
spot. Here the father of the Methodist family bade 
them adieu and took his flight to a world unknown. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


205 


He left the family of Methodist, not tablets of mar¬ 
ble and stone, these are perishable, but a priceless 
legacy, a great church, one of the greatest in the 
world, and one which was imbued with the missionary 
spirit. It is a potentiality, a dynamo of evangelization, 
and today there are more than ten million followers. 
Mr. Wesley is not dead; he can never die; he will 
ever live in the memory of the born and unborn 
generations. His songs, his sermons and his beautiful 
life inspirt humanity. 

Wesley's Graveyard 

Behind Wesley’s Chapel is Wesley’s grave. While 
across the street in front of the chapel is a public 
cemetery. But Mr. Wesley requested his friends to 
bury him behind his church. He said: “I should like 
to be buried here and on the morning of the Resurrec¬ 
tion rise with all my children round me.” His wish 
was granted. This request he made when he first 
built Wesley Chapel. 

Mr. Wesley died February 25, 1791, on Friday. He 
was beloved and honored by not only the Methodists 
but other denominations paid their respects to him. 

It was said that more than 10,000 people passed 
through Wesley’s Chapel to gaze for their last time 
on the face of that sainted hero as he lay in his casket 
the day before he was buried. What a gloom was 
cast over the Methodists, their great leader, a wise 
counsellor, a loving father, a goslep preacher, and a 
man with a vision was no more! His voice is hushed, 
his counsel can no longer be heard, but he has gone to 
his rest. Mr. Wesley was 88 years old. In this book 



JOHN WESLEY’S TOMB 

There Are Nine Persons Buried in This Grave. 
Adam Clark and Wife Are Buried 
Within Five eet of Mr. Wesley 




MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


207 


there is a picture of his monument where his body now 
reposes waiting for the great Resurrection. 

In less than a year Mr. Wesley’s sister, Mrs. Hall, 
Rev. Duncan Wright, Rev. Thomas Bradshaw and 
John Richardson were buried in the same grave, and 
later on four other ministers were buried in the same 
grave, and the last was Rev. Walter Griffith, who 
was buried in Wesley’s grave, 1826. 

There are nine persons, including Mr. John Wesley, 
who are buried in the same grave to await for the Re¬ 
surrection of the dead. They all will rise together some 
day. By the side of Mr. Wesley’s grave sleeps the 
sainted Adam Clarke and his wife. Dr. Clarke was 
buried there August 29, 1832, and his wife was buried 
in 1836. Dr. Clarke wrote Clarke’s Commentary, and 
it took many years to write it. He was once elected 
president of the conference. 

There were other distinguished characters buried 
in Wesley’s Cemetery. Peter Jaco was buried there 
in 1781; was the first Methodist preacher buried there. 
Thomas Rutherford was the next preacher buried 
there in 1806. He was one of the City Road ministers 
in 1803. Rev. Henry Moore, the friend of Mr. Wes¬ 
ley and the executor of his will was buried there in 
1844. Rev. Moore’s two wives were buried there. 
Dr. Richard Watson was buried about fifteen feet 
from Mr. Wesley. Dr. Watson was one of the most 
scholarly men of his day; he wrote Watson Institutes. 
John Bakewell, the author of “Hail, Thou Once De* 
spised Jesus,” was buried there in 1819. 


208 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


There are 5,482 burials registered there between 
1779 and 1858. 

Right in front of Mr. Wesley’s residence there is a 
monument erected in memory of his sainted mother,. 
Mrs. Susanna Wesley. 

Just across the street there is a large cemetery, 
and the grave that I was delighted to see was that of 
Mrs. Susanna Wesley, the mother of John Wesley. 
There is a marble tablet at the head; on it reads: 
“Susanna Wesley, the wife of Samuel Wesley, the 
mother of nineteen children, and the mother of John 
and Charles Wesley. Mrs. Wesley died on July 23, 
1742.” Mr. Wesley preached his own mother’s fu¬ 
neral on the spot she was buried. In that cemetery 
sleeps the body of John Bunyon, the author of Pil¬ 
grim’s Progress; Isaac Watts, the first man to write 
hymns, and Robert Cruso, etc. There are quite a 
number of illustrous dead buried there. 

Charles Wesley’s Grave 

On the 23rd of October, 1921, I went alone to 
Marylebone Station to see the grave of Charles Wes¬ 
ley. I was directed to go to Marylebone Parish 
Church. This church was attended by Mr. Charles 
Wesley in his latter years. He seemed to have af¬ 
filiated more with this church than he did with his 
own denomination. I asked the sexton for permis¬ 
sion to see his grave before I shall return home to the 
United States, and I do want to see Charles Wesley’s 
grave. Pie kindly consented to take me to the grave. 

I stood alone at Charles Wesley’s grave with un¬ 
covered head, and thank God that I had lived to see 



CHRIST CHURCH 
Where John Wesley Was Educated. 






































210 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


the last resting place of the man who wrote more 
than 6000 hymns, and throughout the world millions 
of human beings for more than a century have been 
chanting those blessed songs composed by Charles 
Wesley. That old song is old but new, and indeed it 
inspires those who sing it and sets every fiber of the 
soul afire: 

A charge to keep I have , 

A God to glorify; 

A never dying sold to save, 

And fit it for the sky. 

To serve the present age, 

My calling to fulfill, 

O may it all my power engage, 

To do my Master's will. 

There is a monument over the grave of Charles 
Wesley, and there are four persons buried in the 
same grave. 

Charles Wesley died March 29, 1788, age 80 years. 
His wife, Sarah, died December 28, 1822, age 96 
years. His son, Charles Wesley, Jr., died May 23, 
1834. His son, Samuel Wesley, died October, 1837, 
age 71 years. The family were buried at Maryleborn 
Parish. This church was first built in 1400, and was 
rebuilt in 1741. It is a church of England. Charles 
Wesley lived about two blocks from this church on 
Wesley Street. The church will seat about 800 peo¬ 
ple. 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


211 


Madame Tusseraud's Exhibition 

When I reached London I was advised by several 
friends to visit Madame Tusseraud’s exhibition. I 
went once and was so impressed with what I saw that 
I was forced to make another visit there. Madame 
Tusseraud established this exhibition. This noble 
woman was born in Berne, Switzerland, in 1760, and 
died April 15, 1830. 

Having been left an orphan at a very early age, she 
was sent to Paris and placed under the care of her 
uncle, M. Curtis, an eminent artist, from whom she 
learned the art of modelling in wax. Madame Eliza¬ 
beth, sister of the King, engaged her to instruct her 
in modelling, and she resided with this amiable but 
unfortunate princess at Tuilleries and at Versailles 
until 1789. Believing that her work would have a 
greater appreciation, and she would have a greater 
success, she left France and established herself in 
England, where her collection of figures attracted 
great attention. She exhibited them in all the prin¬ 
cipal cities in the British kingdom, and finally in Lon¬ 
don, where her exhibition was highly commended and 
brought her a splendid compensation. All characters 
were made in wax and dressed up with all the appear¬ 
ance of human beings. I never saw a thing look so 
natural in my life and not being human. 

Presidents Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, 
Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Cleveland, Garfield, Wil¬ 
liam McKinley, Roosevelt, William H. Taft, Wood- 
row Wilson and Warren G. Harding—all in wax 
standing up with their hats on. Taft with his broad 


212 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


smile looked natural. The men that composed the 
League of Nations are all in wax. John Wesley, 
John Calvin, Bismarck, General Pershing, Hon. Win¬ 
ston Churchhill, Prince Albert of Belgium, Duke of 
Wellington, Marshal Foch and Marshal Joffre, Queen 
Victoria, King George V, King Edwards VII, Napo¬ 
leon Bonaparte, John Milton, Francis Bacon, Oliver 
Cromwell, Charles Stewart Parnell, the Irish Home 
Ruler, Lord Tennyson, Count Zeppelin, the inventor 
of the Zeppelin airships. Voltaire, the poet, philosoph¬ 
er, dramatist and historian. Edith Cavell, the martyr 
nurse, who was brutally shot by the Germans at Brus¬ 
sels at 2 a. m. on Tuesday, October 12, T915. She 
was charged with aiding British, French and Belgian 
refugee soldiers to escape from Belgium. After a 
mock trial, she was shot through the head. Although 
she had nursed German soldiers, this did not appease 
the brutal officers of Germany. Are all in wax. 
There are hundreds of wax pictures. 

Chamber oe Horrors 

The Chamber of Horrors has some awful pictures, 
and when one enters it once will never forget the im¬ 
pression it makes on the mind. The criminals that 
were executed were all seen in wax, just as they were 
alive, and their crime committed is stated. Queen 
Marie Antoinette, the wife of Louis XVI of France, 
was kneeling down blindfolded and a man with the ax 
drawn to cut her head off. England for many years 
made use of the chopping block to inflict capital 
punishment. The chopping block was so constructed 
that the prisoner was elevated; the block had two 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


213 


knives, one above and the other one below. And when 
the prisoner put his head under the block, the two 
knives would meet and the head was severed from 
his body by one stroke. It seems that the method of 
execution was brutal, to say the least of it. Frederick 
George Manning and his wife, Marie, in 1849 mur¬ 
dered Patrick O’Connor in their own home, a custom 
officer after he retired to bed. O’Connor was their 
guest. They buried his body under their hearthstone 
in their kitchen. Burk and Hare were notorious mur¬ 
derers ; they would waylay strangers and put a pitch 
plaster over their nose and mouth and kill them by 
suffocation, and would sell their bodies to medical 
students. They kept up this brutal practice for ten 
months, and finally they were apprehended. Burke 
was convicted on the evidence of Hare and executed 
in 1829. Mrs. Catherine Flannagan and Mrs. Mar¬ 
garet Higgins, the latter succeeding in getting an in¬ 
surance on her husband and afterwards poisoned him 
with arsenic. 

William Godfrey, young man, murdered his sweet¬ 
heart, his mother and two brothers by first stabbing 
them and cutting their throats. He was executed in 
1860 in the presence of 30,000 spectators. Edward 
Oxford, who fired off a pistol at Queen Victoria, as 
Her Majesty was driving with the Prince Consort up 
Constitution Hill, near Hyde Park, in June, 1840. He 
remained more than twenty years a criminal lunatic. 

There was a crowd of young men and some women 
gambling in a room and drinking liquor. When they 
wound up the game, some of the women and two of 


214 


SOME INTERESTING sidelights 


the men were stabbed to death. The picture shows 
how drunkards and gamblers usually end their lives. 

There was a man tied and a slow fire put under 
him. He was tortured to death for crime. When 
England began to use electricity in the execution, one 
fellow was strapped down to a chair, feet and legs, 
and a cap put on his head and the current of electric¬ 
ity was turned on him. 

The criminal record in this department was appal¬ 
ling. They are too numerous to attempt to mention 
them. When this scribe, after spending more than a 
half day in this horrible den, had a most unpleasant 
night, and imagined that he saw all of those crimes. 
He certainly staid in dreamland all night. 

The English has a wax fixture made of notorious 
criminals for the coming generations to look at; it is 
indeed an object lesson and will impress any young 
person. 

Our government destroys the pictures of such 
noted criminals, when some ought to be kept for an 
object lesson. 

Mary Scot was executed by the order of Queen 
Elizabeth, because she was a dangerous rival of hers 
for the throne. 


Westminster Abbey 

This is an immense structure, one of the largest in 
London. The dimension of this church, including the 
chapel of Henry VII, is 513 feet in length, 200 feet 
high, is the transepts; height of towers 225 feet; of 
church 102 feet. It is said that the first church on 
this spot of ground was built in 010 A. D. This is 











216 


SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS 


where the king worship in the Established Church of 
England. The public are not admitted to view the 
monuments on Sundays, neither on Good Fridays, 
Christmas Days, or during the hours of divine service. 

The royal dead are usually buried there; but not 
all the dignitaries, nor persons of distinction, but any 
who are able to pay the price for a burial place for 
their dead. The kings and queens of England were 
crowned there, from the coronation of Edward I to 
King George V, the present ruler of the British Em¬ 
pire. There are tablets, marble slabs and tombstones 
to the illustrous dead. 

There are many Royal tombs, viz.: to Henry VII, 
Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth, Chaucer (the first 
poet of England), Lion Cranfield (the first Earl of 
Middlesex), Tennyson, Browning, Charles Dickens, 
and Sir Henry Irving. Mary, Queen of Scots, who 
was beheaded by Queen Elizabeth because of her 
rivalry for the throne of England. There are fifty 
members of the unfortunate Stuart line buried in the 
same vault. Queen Elizabeth was the daughter of 
Henry VIII and Annie Boleyn, while Queen Mary I 
was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine Ar- 
ragon. Henry VIII had his marriage to Catherine 
Arragon declared illegal in order that he might marry 
Annie Boleyn. The two queens sleep together in the 
same grave. The last king to be buried in the Abbey 
was George II, who died in 1760. 

The Westminster School was established during the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth. It has been more than a 
hundred years since a king or queen was buried in 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


217 


Westminster Abbey. Queen Victoria was buried 
about twenty or thirty miles from the city; also her 
son, King Edwards VII. 

Old Purr, who died in 1635, it was said, lived to be 
152 years of age; was buried in the Abbey. 

King James I— Transeation oe the Bibee 

The room in which the 47 men met to translate the 
Bible from Hebrew and Greek to the English lang¬ 
uage in 1611 is still kept up. It has in it a table about 
twenty feet long and several chairs used by those men. 
There is not much corrosion about the furniture at 
all. These were scholarly men, who understood He¬ 
brew and Greek and the English language. But they 
were not inspired. They spent some time on their 
work. There have been several versions of the Bible, 
but somehow I prefer King James’ Translation of the 
Bible. 

Stratford-on-Avon 

At the adjournment of the Ecumenical Conference 
in London, Rev. Dr. Allen of Detroit, Mich., of the 
A. M. E. Church; Rev. G. L. Ward, D.D., and this 
scribe went to Stratford-on-Avon, England, about 150 
miles from London. We went to the house where 

V 

William Shakespeare was born and where his parents 
lived and died. It is a two-story brick building of 
many years’ standing. There were many relics of his 
parents to be seen, and it was indeed interesting to 
visit the humble home where this great dramatic 
writer was born. The building has been purchased 
for a national museum. We hired a car and rode over 
the city. We saw the old schoolhouse where Shakes- 




Shakespeare’s Birthplace. Stratford-on-Avon, England. 








MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


219 


peare attended in his early life while he was in the 
grammar grades. We visited the home of Annie 
Hathaway, where she lived, and her parents. It is a 
two-story brick building. The old bed on which her 
parents slept is still there. The four posts of the bed 
extend to the ceiling and are nailed there. The bed 
is nailed down and covered at the top. I saw the 
candle which burned at both ends. When the candle 
was burned very low, the ends would be changed and 
fire put to the other end. 

A fellow burns the candle at both ends when he 
works hard all day and frolic all night and go to 
work the next day. He cannot hope to live long. The 
old bench where Annie Hathaway sat on when Wil¬ 
liam Shakespeare was courting her, has aged. 

We visited the church where Shakespeare was buried 
in the rear of the Church of England. The old church 
record is there and gives date of his baptism. 

After a pleasant night at Stratford-on-Avon, we 
left for Oxford, England. 

Oxford, England 

I have for many years desired to visit Oxford, 
England, where John Wesley was educated. It is the 
Mecca of education in England. This is a fine city, 
well laid off, and more than twenty colleges in it. 
There was a school parade of several colleges. I 
went to Christ Church, where Mr. Wesley first grad¬ 
uated from. This building is old. There is a bell at 
the gate which strikes at night for the young men to 
go to their room. When Mr. Wesley was there, it 
struck 101, the exact number of students in attend- 





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Shakespeare’s Birthroom. England. 



















MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


221 


ance. The dining room has benches with no backs 
to them, which seemed to be rather uncomfortable. 
The kitchen is in the basement and the food has to be 
brought up a very high stairway by walking. There 
is nothing modern about the building. There are sev¬ 
eral libraries in the several buildings on the campus, 
and many portraits of prominent men who have 
graduated from this university. William E. Gladstone 
was an alumnus of this famous institution. 

Memoriae Cross 

On an important street in Oxford there is an iron 
cross near a telegraph pole, in front of Saint Michael’s 
Church. A stranger would be anxious to know what 
is its significance. Why was this iron cross put there 
and not be removed ? It will certainly attract the at¬ 
tention of any thinking individual. My curosity was 
aroused, my brain was at work trying to solve this 
question. The iron cross was put there in memory of 
three Protestant preachers who were tried by the 
orders of “Bloody Mary,” better known as Queen 
Mary of England. The Queen was the daughter of 
Henry VIII, by Catherine Arragon, but he had her 
marriage declared illegal in order that he might marry 
Annie Boleyn. Queen Mary inherited many of her 
savage and barbarous qualities from her father. She 
hated the Protestant people, had their churches burned 
and many preachers put to death to destroy the Pro¬ 
testant religion and to give greater encouragement to 
Catholicism. She had Ridley, Latimer and Bishop 
Cranmer arrested and put in the Tower of London, 


222 


SOME INTERESTING sidelights 


and from there they were taken to Oxford, England, 
for execution. 

From the window, Bocardo, as the prison over 
the gateway was called. 

Bishop Cranmer saw the martyrdom of Ridley and 
Latimer. They were tied to a stake and burned alive 
on the 16th of October, 1555. After the execution of 
Ridley and Latimer, Bishop Cranmer was executed 
on the same spot. Bloody Mary committed many of¬ 
fenses against the church, but all this inhuman treat¬ 
ment did not have any deterrent effect on the Protest¬ 
ant religion. Really, the church received greater im¬ 
petus; the advocates of Protestantism went forward 
with indomitable courage, preaching the doctrine of a 
crucified Saviour, and that God alone can forgive sin. 
The Protestants dispensed with the services of the 
priest, and the formalities and worship of man, but 
the Christ of God is to be honored, praised and 
magnified. 

A very expensive monument has been erected in the 
city to the memory of those heroic preachers who 
perishd at the stake for the cause of Christ. 

Westminster Training College 

The colored delegation to the Ecumenial Confer¬ 
ence nearly all of them staid at Westminster Training 
College. This is one of the leading colleges of the 
Wesleyan Methodists. It is quite a large building, 
and is well equipped. The rooms for teaching chemis¬ 
try, physical science, biology, etc., were well fitted up. 
The students graduated from this institution and then 
enter the university. The course of study is extensive 



Ann Hathaway’s Cottage. Stratford-on-Avon, England. 











224- 


some; interesting sidelights 


and the training thorough. Rev. Herbert W. Work¬ 
man, M.A., is principal. The first principal was Rev. 
John Scott; he was elected in 1851, and served until 
1868. This college has had only three principals in 
seventy-two years. They first secured the services 
of a competent man and then keep him there for 
years. 

There, are three dining rooms in the school. There 
were white delegates from the southern and northern 
states who frequently took meals there. The color 
line was not drawn. We all were highly entertained. 
The young men who were porters and helpers and the 
young women all contributed to the comforts of the 
delegation. 

They had three meals a day. 

We all sat on benches in the dining room with no 
backs to them. They were rather uncomfortable for 
Americans who were accustomed to leaning back and 
talking while eating. It is the custom in England to 
have benches at the dining hall without backs. Ox¬ 
ford College has similar seats. 

Mrs. Workman, the wife of President Workman 
is a cultured woman, affable and contributed im¬ 
mensely to the entertainment of the delegation. She 
said again and again if there were any complaints or 
dissatisfaction to let her know and they would be 
remedied. The table waiters were indeed courteous, 
kind and always ready to serve their guests. 

My stay there was indeed pleasant. There was a 
large gate to the college which was kept fastened all 
the time, and when you go out in the city you would 


MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


225 


have to touch a button and ring a bell before you 
could enter. I presume this was done on account of 
so many beggars and other folks intruding on the 
premises. 

I had the best food at the college than I had had 
since I had been in Europe. The cooking was like 
the Americans. 

Homeward Bound eor Dixie 

After spending two months in Europe, I was anx¬ 
ious to return home. When I left Alabama for Eu¬ 
rope I weighed 212 pounds, but I returned home I 
only weighed 200 pounds. I had not been sick a day, 
but I did not relish the European cooking. It has 
been many years since I weighed two hundred pounds. 
We did not purchase return tickets when we sailed 
for Europe, and therefore we were put to much in¬ 
convenience to get a berth for home. Hereafter I 
shall always buy a return ticket when I go to Eu¬ 
rope. Bishop C. H. Phillips and wife, his son, Dr. 
C. H. Phillips, Jr., and wife and this scribe did not 
return on the same ship. We all left on Saturday at 
12 o’clock, September 24, 1921. I left on a train for 
Southampton, England, where I took a ship. It was a 
distance of a hundred miles. I had secured a passage 
on the Aquitania, an English vessel, and the second 
largest vessel on the sea. It is 901 feet in length, 
92 feet and 6 inches deep and 97 feet wide, gross 
tonnage 47,000 tons. The speed is 23 knots. It will 
accommodate 3200 passengers and nearly 1000 crew. 

I had a second-class ticket and was the only colored 
man that had a second-class ticket. I saw several 



vm t 

* / 



Lag 














MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


227 


riding on a third-class ticket. The second-class ac¬ 
commodation is equal to that of the first. There were 
two berths in a room, and I had a Russian Jew for a 
bed-fellow. This was something new under the sun 
for me to sleep with white folks. But I decided to 
tough it out until I reach New York. Somehow a 
colored man feels more comfortable when he is sleep¬ 
ing with members of his own race; really he is at 
home, but when it comes to sleeping with white folks 
his very being resents it. There is racial instinct that 
impels him to get to himself. The colored man who 
has an atom of race pride does not want social equal¬ 
ity; he is as much opposed to it as the Anglo-Saxon. 
By sleeping with that Russian Jew, I was sure that I 
could not be amalgamated in seven days, he would 
have a job in changing the pigment of my skin and 
turning me into a full fledged white man against my 
protest. And I was sure that by the absorption process 
I could not convert him into a Negro. But on our ar- 
rrival at New York, we both had our same com¬ 
plexion and racial instincts. I was just the same to¬ 
day. Thank the Lord! 

Dr. C. K. Spencer, the editor of the Kansas Chris¬ 
tian Advocate, was the only man I knew on the ship. 
A dinner was given in my honor by some white people 
from London. They wanted to get firsthand infor¬ 
mation of conditions of my people in the south. Sev¬ 
eral concerts were given, and Mr. Lauder, who is well 
known in Europe and the United States, entertained 
the passengers with his singing concerts. 










MY EUROPEAN TOUR 


229 


A heavy fog arose when we got about 100 miles from 
New York. So dense and heavy was the fog that you 
could not see ten feet from the ship and yet the sun 
was shining brightly. I thought of Dr. John H. New¬ 
man’s song when he had left Rome for Paris, France, 
when a heavy fog overtook him, “Lead, Kindly Light,” 
more than fifty years ago. At times the ship would 
stop and blow. It was dangerous of striking some 
other vessel. Early Friday morning the signal was 
given and a little child was buried at sea. It was a 
solemn occasion. The ship arrived in New York about 
4 p. m. Prof. Goodman and others left on Wednesday 
and got to New York two hours before I did. It was 
really joy to a fellow from Alabama to get on Amer¬ 
ican soil. It took us 6 1-2 days to reach New York. 


END 










INDEX 


From Birmingham to New York_ 9 

Embark for France- 11 

No Color Line on the Ship-- IS 

Dr. Thomas Coke Buried at Sea- 16 

How I Spent the Time on the Ship—to France-19 

Arrival at Havre, France_22 

Train from Havre, France, to Paris-23 

Paris and Sight-Seeing_26 

The Peace Car--—-- 29 

Eiffel Tower--— 29 

The Tomb of Napoleon_ 29 

The Arch de Triumph_36 

President Wilson’s Residence_36 

Place de Torcadera_35 

The Statue of George Washington_35 

The Pavillian de Arminville, Where Hindenburg Was to Take 

Breakfast _38 

The Art Gallery—Louverne_._ 39 

Bishop C. H. Phillips Fell Among Thieves—in Paris_39 

My First Sunday in Paris- 40 

Versailles _45 

The House of Victor Hugo- 51 

Rheims, France_51 

The Ceremony of Consecration of Kings_53 

German Invasion of France in 1870_54 

The Bombardment of Rheims for Four Years by the Germans. 55 

The Statue of Joan of Arc_62 

French Farms Mined by Germans_62 

Return to Paris from Rheims_63 

French Francs Fluctuate_65 

On to Rome_66 

Arrival at Rome_70 

Imperial Rulers of Rome_73 

Roman Forum_-_75 

The Coliseum_ 78 

The Church of Quo Vadis_ 78 

The Mamertine Prison_81 

Victor Amanuel’s Monument-82 

Catacombs _85 

The Parthenon_87 

The Basilica of Saint Peter_89 

Three Doors to the Basilica in Front___Q1 

The Crype- 93 

The Vatican_94 

The Vatican Library_95 

The Hall of the Borgo_96 














































INDEX — Continued 


Hall of the Signature_96 

Hall of Constantine_97 

The Sistine Chapel_ 98 

The Sextine Chapel_99 

The Basilica of Saint Paul_101 

The Tiber River-102 

The M. E. Church College-103 

On to Venice—Italy-.-104 

History of Venice_107 

Internal Government of Venice_109 

Climatic and Hygienic Condition of Venice_112 

The Canals and Bridges_115 

The Streets in Calli_ 119 

The Lagune _120 

How Navigation Is Carried on in Venice_121 

Political Division of Venice_*-122 

The Population of Venice-123 

Factories and Industrial Buildings-124 

Bishop C. H. Phillips Again Fell Among Thieves in Venice-125 

Saint Mark Church Square-126 

Pigeons _ —-> ---127 

The Flag Pole_127 

Saint Mark Basilica-128 

Saint Mark Campanile-130 

The Ducal Palace-—-—_-132 

The Art Gallery in Venice-134 

The Town Clock-134 

Festivities of Venice-135 

Public Offices in Venice-—--136 

Milan, Italy-,-137 

Lucerne, Switzerland-141 

Lake Lucerne -142 

Vitznau-Rigi Railway to the Alps-146 

The Glacier Garden-152 

Geographical Position of Lucerne- 152 

Brussells, Belgium -153 

Never Saw A Negro- 152 

The Lion Monument in Lucerne-—151 

The Pan-African Conference—-- 155 

African Congo -156 

The Purpose of the Pan-African Conference-156 

On to Waterloo-158 

The Battle of Waterloo-158 

The Loss of Human Lives-163 

The Lion Pyramid-—--163 

Great Britain or British Isles-172 

London --—-172 
















































INDEX— Continued 


Westminister Bridge_177 

Clock Tower---*-,-178 

The Tower as a Prison_179 

Relics of Arnjs---181 

Buckingham Palace_181 

Queen Victoria Monument_—---182 

Crystal Palace _ 183 

Hyde Park _183 

My First Sunday in London_-—_-184 

Spurgeon’s Tabernacle_188 

Wesley’s Chapel_,_196 

John Wesley’s Residence-203 

Wesley’s Grave Yard—--205 

Charles Wesley’s Grave-208 

Madame Tusserand’s Exhibition_211 

Chamber of Horrors_212 

Westminster Abbey_214 

King James’ Translation_ 217 

Stradford-on-Avon _217 

Oxford, England- 219 

Memorial Cross to the Preachers Burned at Stake_221 

Homeward Bound_ 225 


























































































